Patent ID: 7703406

Claim:
A ship, comprising: a plurality of vessels each comprising a first deck attached to two spaced-apart hull sections, the deck and hull sections of each vessel bounding a portion of a cavity when the vessel is afloat over water, the cavity extending between an upper surface of the water and an underside of the vessel, and a plurality of like coupling mechanisms each suitable for joining two of the vessels to one another, a first of the coupling mechanisms joining first and second ones of the vessels along starboard and port sides of the deck of the second vessel wherein: a first of the hull sections on the first vessel is attachable to the deck of the second vessel along the port side of the second vessel and a second of the hull sections on the first vessel is attachable to the deck of the second vessel along the starboard side of the second vessel, so that when the first and second vessels are coupled to one another the deck of the second vessel is positioned between the first and second hull sections of the first vessel; attachment of the first vessel to the second vessel is effected with positioning of a first pin extending between said first hull section and the deck of the second vessel and positioning of a second pin extending between said second hull section and the deck of the second vessel; and when the first and second vessels are joined by the first coupling mechanism, movement of the first and second vessels with respect to one another is limited to movement about a single axis of rotation thereby permitting the first vessel to undergo changes in pitch relative to the second vessel.