I don't know which values you're trying to store aside from which ship you're currently using, but for the latter could you not use something like
Set Text [ship-type] to [C:\Status.log]
Begin Text Compare : [ship-type] Equals 'cutter'
Write [Blue] 'Do things for cutter here' to log
Else If Text Compare : [ship-type] Equals 'anaconda'
Write [Blue] 'Do things for anaconda here' to log
Else If Text Compare : [ship-type] Equals 'corvette'
Write [Blue] 'Do things for corvette here' to log
//etc...
End Condition
?
without having to involve any other variables or types of variables to determine which ship you're using.
You have the name of the ship in a text value, which is going to be the best choice in most cases to keep track of that state, rather than having to remember which number happens to match which ship.
The only reason to go with a numeric value in a context like this is if you need to iterate through values (I.E. adding or subtracting from the value to make a relative change, rather than setting an absolute value directly).