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Airships back in vogue, mainly for cargo
GARY PARK For Petroleum News
It’s almost 80 years since the Hindenburg disaster which put airships in the same transportation realm of infamy as the Titanic.
When the German Zeppelin caught fire while trying to dock from its trans-Atlantic flight at New Jersey, killing 36 people, the age of airships as passenger carriers was shelved.
But the concept has never been abandoned, especially as a workhorse in remote northern regions.
Time has also allowed the evolution from highly flammable hydrogen as the fuel source for Zeppelins to helium, an inert gas that does not burn.
Now airships also hold out the prospect of economic and environmental benefits, resulting in Lockheed Martin announcing it has a letter of intent to sell 12 hybrid airships to Straightline Aviation of the United Kingdom, with the two companies working on a purchase agreement that has a potential value of US$480 million.
Straightline said it expects to start receiving airships, which would have a maximum speed of about 65 miles an hour and a cargo capacity of 200,000 pounds, over the 2018-21 period.
Interest expressed The hybrid aircraft are expected to be deployed in Canada’s North, Alaska, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Mike Kendrick, Straightline co-founder and chief executive officer, told reporters that a number of prospective customers have already expressed interest in several hundred airships.
He said the current focus is on “low-hanging fruit,” primarily the oil, natural gas and mining sectors, which “have to find ways” of extracting their resources more efficiently without compromising safety.
Kendrick said the airships offer the prospect of economies and reduced carbon footprints.
Rob Binns, chief executive officer of Hybrid Enterprises, Lockheed Martin’s hybrid airship reseller, said the timing for the airships is ideal as an alternative to companies cutting their budgets, laying off thousands of workers and eliminating projects that are “cash flow negative.”
“One of their biggest issues is that when they build a new site, huge amounts of cash are invested in infrastructure before companies see a dollar in revenue,” he said. “This fits their goals perfectly.”
Straightline spokesman Mark Dorey said his company is well aware that the northern regions are “very sensitive from an environmental point of view.”
What airships eliminate is the need to build ice roads or bridges or wait for environmental approval.
Binns said airships can also service work sites almost year-round.
Another United Kingdom company, Hybrid Air Vehicles, is exploring the passenger side of the business, using lighter model airships than Lockheed Martin.
HAV Chief Executive Officer Stephen McGlennan told the Wall Street Journal that the passenger version could be used for tourism, leisure, disaster relief, communications and agriculture.
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