Ship ' s tender A ship ' s tender , usually referred to as a tender , is a boat , or a larger ship used to service a ship , generally by transporting people and / or supplies to and from shore or another ship . Smaller boats may also have tenders , usually called dinghies . For a variety of reasons , it is not always advisable to try to tie a ship up at a dock ; the weather or the sea might be rough , the time might be short , or the ship too large to fit . In such cases tenders provide the link from ship to shore , and may have a very busy schedule of back - and - forth trips while the ship is in port . On cruise ships , lifeboat tenders do double duty , serving as tenders in day - to - day activities , but fully equipped to act as lifeboats in an emergency . They are generally carried on davits just above the promenade deck , and may at first glance appear to be regular lifeboats ; but they are usually larger and better - equipped . Current lifeboat tender designs favor catamaran models , since they are less likely to roll in the calm to moderate conditions in which tenders are usually used . They typically carry up to 100 to 150 passengers and two to three crew members . Before these ships were mass - produced , the main way to board a larger ship ( mainly ocean liners ) was to board a passenger tender . Passenger tenders remained based at their ports of registry , and when a ship came through the area , the tender would tie up with the ship and embark passengers on an elevated walkway . These vessels were larger , had a greater passenger capacity , and a broader sense of individuality in their respective companies than the more modern tenders seen today . Because of their increased size , lifeboats and life preservers were commonplace on board these ships ( with two boats being the standard amount for an average tender ) . Before the technologies that allow submarines and destroyers to operate independently matured by the latter half of the 20th century – and significantly during the Second World War , they were heavily dependent upon tenders to perform most maintenance and supply . Their hull classification symbol s in the US Navy were , respectively , AS and AD , while general repair ships were AR . Naval tenders fell out of use during the late 20th century , as the speed and range of warships increased – reducing the need for advanced basing . By the end of the 20th century all of the tenders in the U . S . Navy had been inactivated except for two submarine tender s . As a result of the settlement of the lawsuits over the Suisun Bay and Estuary the U . S . Navy and MARAD are engaged in an aggressive disposal program that will scrap all of those ships by 2017 . While the Navy ' s plans for tenders held in reserve in other places ( such as inactivated submarine tenders and held at Inactive Ships , St . Juliens Creek Annex ) were not addressed in that lawsuit , since its settlement , the Navy has indicated its desire to dispose of such ships as soon as possible . Apparently not completely willing to wean itself from tenders all together – but with an eye towards reducing costs – the last two tenders remaining in active service have now been operationally turned over to the Military Sealift Command . s and are now manned and operated by a " hybrid " crew . The Captain and a couple hundred technicians are regular Navy ; while the operation of the ship itself is performed by Merchant Marines . Prior to the turn - over both ships had more than 1000 sailors . While at this time the ships still bear the AS classification , both ship ' s primary mission has been expanded well beyond submarines to include service and support of any Naval vessel in their operational area . Under the traditional Navy classification both ships should be reclassified as AR ( Auxiliary Repair ) , however since now operated by the MSC it is doubtful such a reassignment will occur . " Emory S . Land " is forward deployed in the Indian Ocean at Diego Garcia while " Frank Cable " is forward - deployed in the Pacific at Polaris Point , Apra Harbor , Guam . Such forward deployments are to provide service and support at the very great distances of the Western Pacific . Two tenders , and , were built for the White Star Line by Harland and Wolff to serve the liners and at Cherbourg . " Nomadic " survives as a museum ship , and is the last remaining vessel built for the White Star Line still afloat .