It's easy to attach the gangway from the pier, doesn't require a big motor to lift but just a few hands.....unlike in the past when these stairs were not yet welded in the hull, the gangways are usually long and big. I saw myself many times how a poor forklift raised it up to the passenger door of the ferry.

You see that quite a lot on Filipino ferries.

ID 8017865
Build as NEW KATSURA (JAP) in 1981 and changed in 1994 to PRINCESS OF THE SOUTH

Unusual to have the gangway steps outside the hull.