The game Star Trek: Armada has four kinds of ships, that can be considered a freighter or miner:

Depiction	Name
	Dilithium Collector
	Federation Dilithium Freighter
	Klingon Dilithium Freighter
	Romulan Dilithium Freighter

These ships mine the Dilithium from Dilithium Moons and transport it to the next mining station. As such they are vital for the economy of any player. That's why they are rather sturdy. They are however unarmed, which makes them easy targets, nevertheless. You will need at least three of them to mine a moon most efficiently. Their Mining Beam is an integral part of the ship and is always available. They are built by either the Starbases or (implicitly) along with new mining stations. Although the freighters of each faction come with a particular mining station, all freighters can be used with all mining stations just as long as the station belongs to the same player as the freighter. The faction does not matter for compatibility.