The paper considers the problem of cooperative control synthesis for a complex of $N$ underwater vehicle–manipulator systems (UVMS) to perform the work of moving a cargo along a given trajectory. Here, we used the approach based on the representation of nonlinear dynamics models in the form of state space with state-dependent coefficients (SDC-form). That allowed us to apply methods of suboptimal control with feedback based on the state-dependent differential Riccati equation (SDDRE) solution at a finite time interval, providing the change in control intensity with the transient effect of the system matrices in SDC form. The paper reveals two approaches to system implementation: a general controller for the whole system and a set of $N$ independent subcontrollers for UVMSs. The results of both approaches are similar; however, for the systems with a small number of manipulators, the common structure is recommended, and for the systems with a large number of manipulators, the approach with independent subcontrollers may be more acceptable. The proposed method of cooperative control was tested on the task of cooperative control for two UVMSs with six-link manipulators Orion 7R. The simulation results are presented in the article and show the effectiveness of the proposed method.