[Ichthypresbyter]

The closest thing to this which has been tried was the LASH (Lighter Aboard Ship) system, where cargo was loaded onto unpowered barges that were in turn loaded on board a specially designed ocean-going ship. The barges could be unloaded more quickly than break-bulk cargo, and could be towed on inland waterways.

This proved not to be able to compete with container ships when they were introduced. The last LASH ships in regular commercial service AFAIK were the Baco-Liners, which served small ports in West Africa and were scrapped in the early 2010s.