The main function of the shipyards at Goede Hoop has always been the building and repairing of various cargo ships the VRC has been using for its wide ranging operations. One such operation is the transportation of ore from remote mining stations to the processing plants located in the main VRC systems. During transport there is always a certain amount of risk, especially when the mining staion is positioned in an asteroid belt, so most transports are on a regular repair and maintenance schedule.
However, in the past couple of years the amount of collision damage has been steadily increasing. This seems mainly due to all the buoys everybody seems to be dumping all over the place. The VRC is aware of the ever present OU buoys, as it is providing designs and completely built buoys to the OU. However, other powers and organisations are also placing buoys, some of which are stealthed. This, together with the OU buoys whose numbers are reaching gargantuan proportions, means that shipping starts to be affected.
We are currently investigating some of the buoy remains we recovered in the hopes of tracing the owner. Just so we can arrange compensation, or to prevent things from getting worse. Through whatever means necessary... In the meantime the shipyards are busy putting extra reinforcements on the cargo ships traveling to the most affected areas. See also the gallery for some of the creative things the technicians came up with.
Taking advantage of unfortunate circumstances, the financial services department has used the opportunity to come up with a buoy collision insurance for ships traveling in VRC space. Some of the conditions from the small print: