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An in-game shot of the Porrima star system on the star map in the sci-fi game Starfield.
Get ready to venture to Porrima for this ship part.

How to get a Shielded Cargo Hold in Starfield

Prepare to do some first-class smuggling.

There are many ways to explore space in Starfield, including becoming a space pirate or smuggler. If you’re hoping to go down this path, you’ll need a shielded cargo hold to avoid detection from the authorities. 

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In this guide, we’ll explain how to get the Shielded Cargo Hold upgrade so you can transport your illegal items from planet to planet without fear of intervention from the authorities. Facing the consequences of your actions is overrated, anyway.

How Shielded Cargo works

Starfield Ship shielded cargo capacity
Starfield Ship shielded cargo capacity

Shielded cargo allows players to smuggle or hold contraband on their ships without getting caught. Shielded cargo doesn’t eliminate the threat of getting caught but minimizes it substantially, especially when combined with scan jammers. The more contraband you have, the more likely you are to get caught.

Buying Shielded Cargo parts in Starfield

Head to the Porrima star system 

First, open your map and navigate to the Porrima star system. You’ll find it to the east of Alpha Centauri. 

An in-game shot of the starmap surrounding the Porrima star system on the star map in the sci-fi game Starfield.
Head to Porrima. Image via Dot Esports.

If you have an upgraded grav drive, you can grav jump there directly. Don’t worry if not, as you can still get there. It will take a little longer as you must travel to closer star systems, such as the Volii system. 

Go to planet Porrima III

When you get to the Porrima system, it can be a little confusing to differentiate the planets from one another, as a numeral follows several worlds named Porrima. The planet you’re looking for is Porrima III, just above the sun on the Porrima system map.

An in-game shot of the Porrima star system on the star map in the sci-fi game Starfield.
Porrima III is just above the sun. Image via Dot Esports.

Enter the Red Mile

On Porrima III, you’re looking for an area called Red Mile. There’s a marker for it on the planet’s surface. Click on it, and you’ll get a prompt asking if you wish to land there. 

An in-game shot of the Porrima III planet in the sci-fi game Starfield.
The Red Mile can be found on Porrima III. Image via Dot Esports.

Once you’ve safely landed, you should easily be able to find the Red Mile thanks to all the red neon lights. Keep walking straight forward when you exit your ship, and you should see the entrance to the building. 

An in-game shot of the Red Mile building in the sci-fi game Starfield.
Head into the Red Mile. Image via Dot Esports.

Talk to Lon Anderssen

We’re looking for someone called Lon Anderssen, who works in Ship Services. This is inside the Red Mile building, just a few meters from the entrance. Keep walking forward until you see a guard, and take the first door on the right. 

An in-game shot of the character Lon Anderssen in the sci-fi game Starfield.
Talk to Lon. Image via Dot Esports.

You should see Lon Anderssen behind the ship services desk if you are in the right place. Talk to him; you will get a dialogue option to view and modify your ship. This dialogue option will take you to the ship customization screen; from there, you can bring up the shipbuilder.

Purchase a Shielded Cargo Hold

An in-game shot of the Cargo option in the ship builder menu in the sci-fi game Starfield.
Go to the Cargo tab in the ship builder menu to purchase a Shielded Cargo Hold. Image via Dot Esports.

On the shipbuilder screen, press the add button (when your cursor is not hovering on the ship), and a list of ship parts available to purchase will appear on the right-hand side. 

Click the Cargo tab, and you’ll see a few different options for Shielded Cargo Holds.

Add a Shielded Cargo Hold to your ship

Select the shielded cargo hold you want, purchase it, and set it down near your ship. Next, take off the cargo hold your ship currently has and replace it with the one you just bought, and there you have it: Your ship will be ready for all your smuggling needs.

Don’t forget that if you’re planning on hauling contraband in Starfield, you’ll need to know how and where to sell it, as regular vendors won’t be willing to get their hands dirty.

Stealing ships with a Shielded Cargo Hold

To steal ships with shielded cargo, you must damage the ship’s engines utilizing the first level of the Targeting Control Systems Skill, board the vessel, take out its passengers, and take a seat.

Sit in the cockpit and fly to a major port or planet. For a price, this will allow you to register it by talking to a Ship Services Technician and taking the cargo.


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Author
Image of Antonia Haynes
Antonia Haynes
Antonia Haynes is a freelance general gaming writer for Dot Esports who resides in a small seaside town in England where she has lived her whole life. Beginning her video game writing career back in 2014, and having an avid love of gaming since childhood, she became a staff writer in 2018 before becoming freelance in 2023 with her role at Dot Esports. Her ideal day would consist of junk food, fluffy pyjamas and video games because quite frankly going outside is overrated.
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Michael Dawson
Michael Dawson is a skilled writer on pop culture, video games, and film/TV. He has 8+ years of experience writing on various topics and for multiple publications.
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Austin Ernst
Austin is an Updates Writer and Fallout Fanatic. He founded his podcast channel, Shared Screens, and his words can be found at Six One Indie and TheGamer on top of writing for Gamurs. Austin is recently married as of October 2022, and has two Aussie dogs.