The third priority of Sea Urchin's presidency is said to be "Improve relations with the UNP" but there is now more work to do after the fall-out of The Shiner's plan to sell surplus capacity on NS freighters to commercial companies resulted in an emergency meeting between the NS and UNP Presidents (remotely) and Sea Urchin was forced to publically bury the plan.
Five large civil carriers put pressure on the UNP, fearing unfair competition from NS in what is a cut-throat and low margin business. The UNP have told Sea Urchin that NS must refrain from competing with commercial companies. However Sea Urchin has also told The Shiner that billions of zarks need to be raised in this way.
A former Proxima 7 president has said that sooner or later the UNP and NS must decide what exactly their relationship is. NS has now become the defacto armed forces of the UNP though is still officially a private company. Could NS become part of the UNP one day? Sea Urchin said no when he was asked that but the line between public and private could become even more blurred in the years to come.
