The voluminous but ungainly hull of the Huan-Gogel 430 "Nebula" does little to enhance the romance of interstellar travel but it does ensure a respectable passenger and cargo capacity for a ship of its class. Indeed, the Nebula has slowly come to dominate mid-tier passenger service since the muted reception of its first line of production.
The Nebula is equipped with a forward-facing shield to enhance the safety of passengers and extend the hull plating's maintenance schedule. And the Sector being what it is, several ballistic turrets and anti-missile all-band flare launchers have been mounted at fortuitous locations to assure paying passengers that their well-being is a top priority of the operator.
The Nebula is a destroyer-sized civilian transport, capable of carrying large amounts of crew and marines across the Persean Sector. Size-wise, the Nebula's usefulness as a transport is greater compared to small shuttles like the Kite and the Mercury. Although the Starliner can carry over triple the amount of personnel than a Nebula (1,400 vs 400), it's also far slower (Burn Level 6 vs Burn Level 8). This makes the Nebula perfect for normal-sized fleets that need to reach an important location in a short amount of time, without slowing that fleet down.
The Nebula also has another quirk: If a mod that adds additional ships has a problem and fails to add a ship, or was updated to remove the ship in question, a Nebula will spawn in its stead.
Only up to date for version 0.8.1a-RC5. It is likely still broadly correct but not verified for the most up to date data yet. Please double check the Version History