Maximum evacuation capacity

The maximum evacuation capacity, or MEC, of a starship was the maximum number of people a starship could safely evacuate in emergency situations without overloading the life support systems. This term was also known as maximum evacuation limit or emergency evacuation limit. Prison ships were usually designed to be operated continuously under MEC. Hydran ships were usually considered to have the best capability under continuous MEC conditions, as not doing so would offend the God of Evacuation. (RIS Bouteina: "Fury of the Prison Ships")

Ships by known evacuation capacity

10,000 people and more

• 38,700 people
  • Shogun-class (uprated)
• 30,000 people
  • D'deridex-class
• 29,500 people
  • Monarch-class
• 23,700 people
  • Mirak assault carrier (Hydran version)
• 16,500 people
  • Shogun-class
• 15,000 people
  • Galaxy-class
• 13,700 people
  • Grenadier-class
• 11,300 people
  • Norexan-class
• 10,000 people
  • PumwI'-class

1,000 to 10,000 people

• 9,800 people
  • Excelsior-class
  • Nebula-class
• 8,000 people
  • Prometheus-class (uprated)
• 7,350 people
  • Vor'cha-class
• 6,540 people
  • K't'inga-class
• 6,000 people
  • Wildcat-class (ESG Global Operations variant)
• 4,500 people
  • Allegiance-class
• 4,000 people
  • Intrepid-class (uprated)
• 3,700 people
  • Mohican-class
• 2,500 people
  • Yevrin-class
• 2,000 people
  • Intrepid-class
• 1,500 people
  • Quantum-class

Less than 1,000 people

• 610 people
  • Nova-class
• 500 people
  • Norway-class
• 300 people
  • Interceptor-class

MEC race

In late 2386, the Federation comes to a bleak realization: if it is to accomplish its task in Romulan space properly, it has to increase the MEC of its ships dramatically. However, the Federation craze for ever-greater MEC out of its existing ships was not driven by Romulans, but by Pac-Men observations of Hydran ships. In fact, they saw a Hydran Mohican-class ship, who had a similar mass to the Intrepid-class, and yet have almost twice the maximum evacuation capacity of its Federation counterpart. The USS Voyeur was the first Intrepid-class refitted to compete with the Hydran light explorers in this regard. It would be expected that the Federation would field new classes, or at least refit existing classes to fulfill the ever-greater need for more evacuation capacity. (RIS Bouteina: "Gogmagog")

The Krantians used what the Federation codenamed "Russian holodeck" because they stacked holodecks within holodecks to achieve what the Hydran Keepership theorized as being the one piece of technology they need to achieve infinite maximum evacuation capacity. (RIS Bouteina: "Resolution on Krant")