A ship is just a carefully crafted bunch of metal and electronics. It is quite literally an inanimate object that we use to go about our business, nothing more than a tool at our disposal. So you fly that ship, perhaps effectively or perhaps not so well, you fly it between stars and moons, you ride it to hell and back on whatever quest you deem fit.
Then comes the day where you find yourself standing in front of death's door, the day you stumble into something that's more than you can handle. By gun or by fate, you see your ship crumbling around you, you know that it's lost and there's nothing you can do to save it. At that moment you realise your ship is more than a ship, it's more than a tool, more than a bunch of wires and metal. All the long days you've flown that ship are coming to an end, and in the next few seconds you know a piece of you will die as well.

"Farewell old friend, You'll never be forgotten ..."