LASH carrier

A LASH carrier (Lighter Aboard Ship) is a barge-carrying mother ship that loads floating barges, called lighters, with a gantry crane that travels the full deck and lifts each barge over the stern. The system, designed by Jerome Goldman, debuted on the Acadia Forest in September 1969 and let inland river cargo cross open sea without breaking bulk at the port. Standard LASH lighters weigh about 80 tons and a ship could carry roughly 60 to 80 of them stowed in cells and on deck. The concept avoided port congestion but lost out to containerization on capital cost and slow handling. Few LASH ships remain in commercial trade.