Docking port



Docking ports were located on the hull of a starship and allowed the crew access between their ship and another vessel or space station.

The docking ports on board an starship were located on E deck.

In January 2152, a symbiotic lifeform used a docking port to gain access to the Starfleet vessel Enterprise. 

The refit starship Enterprise featured a number of docking ports. One was on the portside of the saucer section, and connected the ship to the drydock during the refit.

In 2273, travel pod carrying Admiral James T. Kirk and Commander Montgomery Scott docked with the ship at a port on the engineering hull which connected directly to the cargo bay, following a long exterior tour of the vessel. Later, the Vulcan shuttle Surak docked at a port directly aft of the bridge to deliver Spock to the Enterprise. 

There were also docking ports which led to the torpedo bay. In 2285, a travel pod connected here to offload Admiral Kirk's inspection crew before the Enterprise departed on a training cruise. 

On ships like the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), docking ports were located on Deck 25 on either side of the forward torpedo launcher in the stardrive section. The Enterprise docked at Starbase 74 and Starbase 133  via these ports. The Enterprise also docked at Deep Space 9 in this manner, as did the USS Odyssey. Another Galaxy class starship, the USS Venture, had a docking port on the extreme port tip of its saucer section and connected to Deep Space 9 at this location. 

The USS Voyager had three docking ports on the rim of its primary hull, which it used to dock at DS9  and a Markonian outpost   At least one of these ports connected directly to Cargo Bay 2 and could be used to decompress the bay. In 2374, Commander Chakotay decompressed the cargo bay to eliminate the Borg drones occupying the bay during Voyager's uneasy truce with the Borg following the Species 8472 invasion. 

The USS Defiant (2370) could dock with Deep Space 9 through a port on the nose of the ship, above the main deflector dish. 

Specialized docking ports can also be used to connect auxiliary craft directly to a starship, such as the captain's yacht on Galaxy and Sovereign class ships, the aeroshuttle on the Intrepid class, and the waverider shuttlecraft on the Nova class, all located on the ventral side of their respective saucer sections.

Notable appearances
In 2369 docking port six of Deep Space 9 was used to dock the Klaestron starship on after it was pulled with a tractor beam back to the station. 

The same year Commander Sisko ordered the turbolift, carrying himself and Major Kira, to docking port six to welcome the Paqu delegation aboard. 

Commander Sisko told Doctor Julian Bashir and the ambassadors Taxco, Vadosia, and Lojal that the best place on the station to view the alien probe would be the docking ring near docking port seven. 

Constable Odo told Commander Sisko and Chief O'Brien to take crossover bridge one which will led them into the cargo bay and docking port four. 

The same year the Kobheerian freighter Rak-Miunis, which transported Aamin Marritza, requested docking at Deep Space 9 and was guided to docking port six. 

Related links

 * Airlock
 * Docking bay
 * Docking latch