Sorry I thought that was obvious
Ohhhh, I'm upset I missed this post when you made it, I'll be trying it out today
Edit: It's a very sad day, picked a fight with the wrong space gang, they destroyed my entire ship
They're pretty easy to kill because they're kinder dumb, but as soon they turn and start ripping into your hull you're in a wee spot of bother. If you're quick enough you can steal one without doing too much damage to them, they also drop insane loot that you can sell.
Also if you go on catalogue you can save your ship and then buy it back if you lose it. Not sure how, but you can also save singleplayer ships and buy them in multiplayer, and I don't think you can grief someone elses ship if they're piloting it, but you can shoot and blow them up.