ship's tender

A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a yacht used to service a ship, generally by transporting people and/or distributes to and from shore or another ship. Smaller boats also have tender and it is popularly known as dinghies.

For a couple of reasons, it is not always wise to tie a ship up at a dock; the weather or the sea might be rough, the time might be small, or the ship too large to fit. In such situation tenders provide the link from ship to shore and it may have a very busy schedule of back-and-forth trips while the ship is in port.

Tenders play double duty on cruise ships by serving as tenders in day-to-day activities and in emergency it act as fully equipped lifeboats. They are commonly carried on davits over the promenade deck, and may at first look appear to be regular lifeboats; but they are usually larger and better-equipped. Current lifeboat tender designs support catamaran models, since they are less likely to roll in the calm to reasonable conditions in which tenders are frequently used. They can carry up to 100 to 150 passengers and two to three crew members.