Civilian Shipping: Mechanics and Incentives?

[EarthquakeDamage (OP)]

Shipping lines are very inconsistent when it comes to ship construction.  In some games, they launch a ship almost immediately after I plant colonists on Mars.  In others, many years pass before they do much.  The construction of subsequent ships is also sporadic, with periods ranging from months to years.  This is all with well-subsidized shipping lines (so they can afford new ships), and I've never noticed (key word:  noticed) a pattern to their behavior (i.e. high vs low cost ships, number of spaceports or shipyards, &c).

So, in the interest of discovering how to generate fast and consistent growth in the civilian sector, here are my questions:

1.  What are the precise requirements for a shipping line to build (more) ships?  AFAIK all that's needed is two non-zero populations and a shipping line with enough money to buy a new ship, but maybe they won't build a second ship until there's some incentive (i.e. sufficient supply/demand of trade goods or installations, or a third non-zero population)?

2.  What does a shipping line look for in a ship design?  Again, AFAIK they just need a commercial ship with cargo or passenger capacity.  Is there more to it than that?

3.  Assuming all requirements are met, what determines how quickly they build new ships?  Is there some sort of build rate limitation?  Are they limited to one ship per X months or a random chance per annum, and is that per shipping line or for the entirety of the civilian sector?

4.  Does CMC construction/expansion prevent ship construction?  I do consistently get CMC generation/growth in all games (as annual income approaches 1m).

[Erik L]

One thing, civs won't buy/build ships they cannot afford. So if your civ corp has 1500 wealth, and the ship costs 1505, they won't buy one.

[randal7]

To build a new ship the civvies must have enough cash to buy it. Also, Steve has said somewhere that there are civvie shipyards (the game tracks them but you can't see them) that must have available space and take time to build the new ships.

Design smaller cargo/colony ships. The lower price seems to lead to quicker purchases even if there is enough cash for a bigger ship.

There appears to be some random factor as well as profitability considerations. I've had a civvie ship appear and start moving infrastructure almost as soon as the first colonist landed on Mars, and I've also seen them take years to get started shipping.

If your conscience allows civvie farming, colonize but don't terraform Mars. That short Earth-Mars infrastructure run is a cash cow for the civvies (and you).

[Jetman123]

First thing I do to any shipping line is subsidize it five times. That gives it enough to get off the ground and get started, and from there they do their own thing on their own time, and I end up profiting from it in the future. I find this an agreeable arrangement.

[jseah]

In my case, I subsidize any shipping line whose cash drops below twice the cost of a freighter.  (around <1800 just to be safe)

This is so that they never stop producing ships.  I have too much cash to burn anyway. 

It would be nice if the colony ships didn't travel in one huge block that generates massive overcrowding by dumping 3 million colonists on a new colony 2 months after I plunk down a seed 100 infrastructure.  >.>