a marine handling craft and system is intended for use in deploying , inspecting and receiving vessels and payloads to and from locations on , under , over or near water and wet soils in potentially turbulent aquatic or atmospheric conditions . the marine handling craft may operate as a robot , or deployed from a crane or boom on a mother ship or other platform or helicopter so that it can transport and mate and dock at various locations , such as supply ships or autonomous marine vessels , at a stand off distance to limit potential harm to valuable assets . a sliding fastener and track are included on the marine handling craft so that it can be tethered and lifted by a single line or cable , and so can be manipulated by a single crane or helicopter . the utility of the handling craft is not limited to the transport of payloads and it may function as a stand - alone vessel for various remote sensing purposes . smart communication between the marine handling craft and other vessels or other nodes in a distributed computer network facilitates simultaneous , hierarchical and multi - tasking control of the craft and permits verification and inspection of payloads , which might otherwise cause damage when proximate to more valuable assets .