A French effort to make a tug/barge combination work. It never took off, and the Corbis remained the only barge. For the system to work, IMHO, the distances over which the system would have to operate would have to be very small, as the relatively small barge could even back then, be loaded and discharged quite rapidly.

So basically she became a coalcarrier, from which the engine/accomadation part could be detached. There are two other shots on the site, stating her as special purpose ship. To me she was simply a bulkcarrier, with a special feature.