The Class VI bulk freighter, a cargo transport crafted by the Corellian Engineering Corporation, was considered an outdated design by the time the Galactic Civil War began. Its design was an evolution of the older Praetorian-class frigate.
This Class VI freighter had a length of 180 meters and could carry 2,000 metric tons of cargo, and featured a Class 3 hyperdrive. A typical crew consisted of four individuals, with space for two passengers and enough supplies for six months. However, it could be operated with a minimal crew of just a pilot and a navigator.
Notably slow and cumbersome at sublight speeds, the standard Class VI lacked a secondary hyperdrive and was equipped with only a single, turret-mounted laser cannon for defense.
The Class VI freighter was constructed using the same hull design as the Praetorian-class frigate, a warship that served in the Republic fleet as far back as the Battle of Koros Major during the Great Sith War.
Millennia later, around 70 BBY, a ship of this class, named the Hearst, became the headquarters for the independent news organization Freedom Galactic News. The Rebel Alliance Fleet included at least one of these freighters in its inventory.
During the early stages of the Thrawn campaign, Grand Admiral Thrawn utilized an aged freighter of this type as part of a ruse to capture Luke Skywalker. This involved simulating a routine inspection using the Chimaera and an Immobilizer 418 cruiser.
The class's name and specifications are derived from the entry for the Hearst in the October/November 1995 edition of the French RPG magazine Casus Belli, which identifies the ship as a cargo classe VI. The illustration of the Hearst, created by Fred Blanchard, who also worked on the Heir to the Empire comic adaption, clearly depicts a variant of the freighter design that would later appear in December 1995's issue 3. In addition to the Hearst, this issue of Casus Belli also featured the Black Lotus, a PCL 27 freighter, similar to the one Thrawn used in the Sluis Van ambush in issue 6.
However, it is worth noting that an earlier depiction of the ambush of Luke's X-wing in The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook shows a different freighter design altogether. It appears the comic artists were aware of this image, as they replicated the distinctive twin-well interdictor from it.
To further complicate matters, the most recent portrayal of the Class VI depicts it functioning as a combat vessel several millennia prior. The Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide reconciled this discrepancy by explaining that the Class VI freighter was, in fact, a reuse of the hull design from the earlier Praetorian-class frigate.