I think Talonsbane may be correct. If that's the case, they would also need a mechanism to transfer cargo between ships as well as a refinery gameplay mechanic (the new golf swing). The mobile refinery does not work otherwise.
I am hoping that CIG has already gamed out on paper (at least) what repair mechanics will be in terms of resource usage. For example:
Aluminum (or Aluminium for the British here), titanium, Tungsten are used for hull plating and structure
Borase is used for repairing coolers and cooling systems
Copper is used in repairing power cabling
Gold is used for controls repair,
diamond, corundum, etc are used for repairing the "glass" in the windows of ships
etc., etc. etc.
This would start making collecting some of these materials a bit more valuable. You are out mining to finance your exploration expedition, or maybe you just want to load up your Crucible. Instead of ignoring the Aluminum, tungsten, diamond, copper, etc, you collect and refine it so that your Carrack can carry a load of repair materials in case you get into trouble. It also gives the refinery reason to refine them for people instead of just dumping them.