Meaning of the star in the ship status column

[bgp_spook]

I have a light cruiser with a captain that is (Average, Aggressive), in a sea zone with 144/200 used base capacity, with a star next to its Status [R * or AF *] on the Ships in Service tab which as persisted for at least two turns. I have previously assumed that a star next to the Status meant that the ship was not getting enough supplies or support as the star often shows up when the basing requirements of a fleet exceed the base capacity of the sea zone. However, that is not the case here. Also, the maintenance costs are identical to the other ships of the same class in the same theater.

I am trying to determine how to interpret this designation.

Note that the last battle that the light cruiser in question was involved in started with a message that went something like 'The ship has been at sea too long and the engines are only capable of making XX knots' or something like that (note that the class in question has "Reliable" engines and "Long" range), This may or may not be related. Looking at the ship's history doesn't seem to make any mention of engine troubles and my messages don't show anything for how far back the go.

[Andrew Cree]

The * indicates your ship needs some basic maintenance. Ships assigned to R duties can develop this issue even if there is sufficient base capacity available as they are spending all available time searching for enemies and not performing maintenance.

Ships showing the * are much more likely to be sent to the yards with an engine issue.

The Long Range and Reliable Engines options extend the period before the * appears and, I think, give a small decrease in the chance of being sent to the yards but they don't prevent the issue entirely.

However, the * should clear after no more than a couple of months on AF in a zone with sufficient base capacity.

It's also why you have the engine issues - until the basic maintenance is performed, you suffer a temporary limit to speed in order to protect the engines.