![](http://i.imgur.com/JIqA5Ao.jpg"; "”source:")
Best of luck to them.
If that is a photo of the ship doing the search operation, it is not a U.S. Navy ship (USS). It is a USNS ship operated by a civilian crew with a Navy diving and salvage team embarked(probably MDSU-2) from Little Creek, VA.
If you were to clear the deck up to the housing structure, and place a large cable winch at the forward deck end, you would have an anchor handling OSV common for Gulf of Mexico oil drilling operations as of year 2000. The cable roller is centered at the stern.
The deck area can carry pipe, casing, and drilling supplies when not otherwise needed for it’s primary purpose. It can tow to some extent but it’s not a purpose built “tug boat”. Some cable-handling structural safety details are missing along the stern end fencing as shown in the photo. More of a research or dive crew set-up.