The Platypus is a break bulk cargo ship featured in Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City .
The Platypus is a break bulk cargo ship featured in Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City.
The Platypus is a medium sized general break bulk ship with no markings indicating a draft. The hull is painted black and red, the superstructure is white and the decks are green. The livery on the exhaust stack consists of marine blue stripes with a white central band highlighted by narrower marine blue pinstripes top and bottom. There is a nameplate on the railings on the top level of the superstructure on the port side and the name is also painted on both sides of the bow and on the stern where it is accompanied by the port of registration, Liberty City. Most of the direction signage and safety equipment aboard is in Russian which may indicate the origin of the vessel.
There are 24 rows of cargo access ports amidships with the 12 closest to the bridge split down the center and the 12 forward ports being continuous. There are various cranes and masts on the fore-deck for cargo management.
The superstructure rises 4 levels above the deck, with the first level housing the galley and mess, the second level housing crew quarters and the top level housing the bridge, The third level is inaccessible. There is a radio mast and radar mast atop the superstructure and a further radio mast at the bow. There are exterior stairways leading down from the bridge to the third level on the starboard side and down to the second level on the port side, but no exterior stairway leads down to the main deck.
There are two six-man permanent lifeboats, one on either side of the superstructure, and two further life raft containers at the stern.
The door from the deck to the mess is open during a story mission and in the multiplayer free mode to allow access to the interior. Internal access down to part of the ships hold can be reached from the mess at these times, while two of the cargo access ports in row 12 which are opened by Niko during the mission are also open. Outside of the mission or multiplayer modes, parts of the interior can be freely accessed if the player flies a helicopter near the superstructure and bails out onto the upper balcony, where the doors are open and the player can then explore but will they not be able to access the hold.
Inside, on the bridge, there is a copy of a real shipping navigation chart for Salem, Marblehead and Beverly Harbors and a Body Armor pickup.
There are Russian language posters on the walls of the ship for Perestroika, Honkers Gentlemen's Club, a Liberty City Amateur Dramatic Society play called TittyCity T&A, numerous soft-core pornographic Polaroid photos and glamour posters and a Higgins Helitours calendar. The tables in the mess are scattered with porn magazines and DVDs. The galley has ThriftEX equipment and a first aid kit pickup.
