The A-class bulk freighter, alternatively known as an A-class bulk freighter, was a container ship design that became widely used by terraforming groups in the time just prior to the outbreak of the Galactic Civil War.
The A-class, also designated as the PCL 27, featured a massive container bay that occupied approximately 75% of the hull's total length, allowing it to transport as much as 160,000 metric tons of cargo. The Maxwell & Son terraforming corporation utilized vessels of this type to transport prefabricated colony complexes through hyperspace and deploy them onto designated planets, a tactic that was subsequently replicated by the Empire with its prefabricated garrison outposts.
The PCL 27 was equipped with a class 3 hyperdrive system and could achieve an atmospheric speed of 350 kilometers per hour. A typical crew complement for this class of vessel was 60 individuals, with provisions sufficient for six months, although it could be operated with a minimum crew of just ten.
In later years, ships of this class were adapted for various purposes. During the Battle of Sluis Van, Grand Admiral Thrawn infiltrated the shipyards by concealing a squadron of cloaked TIE/LN starfighters within the cargo hold of a PCL 27 named Nartissteu. Another example of this ship class was the Black Lotus, which the Camarina Connection modified into a mobile drug production facility.
The designation "PCL 27" first appeared in an article about the Black Lotus in the September/October 1995 edition of the French role-playing magazine Casus Belli, accompanied by artwork from Fred Blanchard, the illustrator for the comic adaptation of Heir to the Empire. While the magazine's publication preceded the appearance of this ship type in issue 6 of the comic in March 1996 by several months, the background information has never been translated into English, leaving its canonicity unclear.
In the original Heir to the Empire novel, Wedge Antilles refers to the ship at Sluis Van as an "A-class bulk freighter," but no Legends source has elaborated on this description. Consequently, it remains uncertain whether this is an alternative name for the PCL 27 or a more general term encompassing several similar freighter designs.