Lighters were traditionally unpowered and were moved and steered using long oars called "sweeps" and the motive power of water currents.
They were operated by skilled workers called lightermen and were a characteristic sight in London's docks until about the 1960s, when technological changes made this form of lightering largely redundant.
Lighters, albeit powered ones, were proposed to be used in 2007 at Port Lincoln and Whyalla in South Australia to load Capesize ships which are too big for the shallower waters close to shore.
Lighters in Hong Kong are usually equipped with cranes of 40-60 tonnes capacity, and the largest ones can carry up to 300 TEU containers (empties).
As they lack engine rooms and gearbox, shaft or propellers, this means maximum usage of the hull space into housespace.