What strikes me is that this all sounds like bluster and prevarication around safety, rather than a situation where the safety has actually been thought through

What strikes me is that this all sounds like bluster and prevarication around safety, rather than a situation where the safety has actually been thought through. This blog post also doesn't have any kind of links or references to any more in-depth discussion and ultimately seems even on the surface as though it would fall apart under scrutiny. For instance it's quite obvious that the reason the majority of accidents are the result of operator error is because mechanical failures are rare precisely due to classing and other forms of regulation. It does very little good to have "high-level operational safety" if the vessel you are in catastrophically implodes due to mechanical failure.