Hocotate ship
The Ship is the common name for Olimar's new rocket in Pikmin 2. It has no real name, and is never called anything, so it is simply called 'The Ship'. The Ship is obviously an older, worn-out model of ship rather than the S.S Dolphin, you can tell by the way noises it makes and by its faded, rusty color. However, unlike the Dolphin, the Ship is capable of speech, and often takes on the role of giving advice. It has a pompous, smart-aleck personality.
Capabilities
The ship can store Pikmin (and it does so, storing both White Pikmin and Purple Pikmin). Unlike the Dolphin, you cannot check how many treasures you've collected on it nor restore your health. Standing in the green light and pressing A before you have collected the Purple Pikmin does nothing. The ship has two cockpits, and has enough energy to go near Hocotate every night and collect and send mail from the people on it. The Ship can dispatch a Research Pod for traveling underground.
Research Pod
When traveling underground into caves, the Ship dispatches its upper half, known as the Research Pod, and sends with you into the cave. It is used to store any treasures and enemy carcasses to be sold to pay off the debt upon exiting the cave. In emergency cases, it can empty its cargo and take in Olimar and Louie and return to the surface; should this happen you'll lose any carcasses, treasures, and the pikmin that were with you.