A bumboat is a small boat used to ferry supplies to ships moored away from the shore. Originally referring to a scavenger's boat, the name comes from the combination of the Dutch word for a canoe - "boomschuit" ("boom" meaning "tree"), and "boat".
In Tobias Smollett's 1748 novel; The Adventures of Roderick Random, A 'bumboat woman' conducts business with sailors imprisoned onboard a pressing tender moored near the Tower Wharf on the Thames River, London, England.
In Singapore the term "bumboat" is applied to small water taxis and boats that take tourists on short tours.