S. describes some of the memories he felt during his trance-like states both on the ship and in the Winter City. He has a memory of filling brass casings with gun powder, implying that he was a part of a war effort in his prior life if it is his own memories that he’s experiencing.

As he’s walking along the solid ice with Sola away from the Winter City, he sees the silhouette of the ship. His intuition tells him it is his same ship, just resurrected in a more misshapen form. S. goes through some of the details of changed ship.
In response to the section describing the offensive nautical condition the ship is in, high school Eric suggests that the ship is an image of how VMS sees himself. At a later time, Eric offers a very different possibility.

A tongue-in-cheek description of the whole “V.M. Straka” composite.

This may be referring to the general nature of the S. and how the group does not seem to fit perfectly, yet continues to reappear in new form as members leave and join.