The comments on food and water relate to NPCs I think it was in discussion on the Polaris but heh there have been so many I loose track. It is one of the ways to make using NPCs more expensive and more difficult in that you have to actually bring supplies for them which get used up. So in the polaris case its cargo capacity would just serve that purpose. The conversation made clear it was for NPCs not PCs. Some ships like the terrapin which has a max crew of 2 but no cargo as such would seem like it will limit the duration of any exploration if you take an NPC.
Oh and of course all things subject to change still in Alpha and so on....
Oh and of course all things subject to change still in Alpha and so on....