[Plunderin Mom]

It happened to me, too, but after I payed for the repairs, the repair button was still available. So, I'd click it again, my ship still wans't repaired and I'd pay again, then the same thing again. It finally repaired after about the 5th attempt, and then the repair button was no longer available. Each time it didnt repair I would get that message you saw. I just thought it was a bug in the game and that the game recognized it as such with that message.

But maybe you're right, perhaps they're gearing things up for trading soon, and the fact that my ship wasnt repairing was a coincidence. That would be cool. Just had a new person ask me again today where he could go to trade, and he wasnt very happy there when I gave him the answer.