How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
A new sense, a new entity is added to my soul. (13)
Well now. What's that you say? This sounds suspiciously like this guy has undergone some sort of serious transformation during his time on the ship. His very soul is changed. That sounds an awful lot like the afterlife if you ask Shmoop. It's as if the narrator's time on the ship has changed him on a spiritual level, perhaps in ways that it couldn't were he still among the living.
Quote #2
They all bore about them the marks of a hoary old age. (19)
These guys should be nearing death, so why are they trying to usher it along even faster than it already approaches? Unless they're undead, in which case maybe they're looking for a final end.
Quote #3
I could not help feeling the utter hopelessness of hope itself, and prepared myself gloomily for that death which I thought nothing could defer beyond an hour. (8)
This general expression of despair suggests that even hope depresses the narrator to no end. It's as if he's saying, what's the point of hope, when you know you have none? You might as well resign yourself to your fate and hang on for the ride.