Abstract: A vessel carrier for use in an automated laboratory system is disclosed. The vessel carrier comprises an upper side, a bottom side, and a middle body portion between the upper side and the bottom side. The upper side comprises openings for introducing vessels. The middle body portion comprises vessel holding positions comprising walls for holding a vessels and extending in correspondence to the openings on the upper side into the middle body portion. The vessel carrier further comprises a two-component structure comprising a core component made of electrically conductive material. The core component comprises part of the bottom side and the walls of the vessel holding positions. The vessel carrier further comprises a cover component covering part of the core component and is made of a material that is different or has different properties with respect to the material of the core component and is customizable for identification and/or handling.