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Cargo Airships Are Happening

(www.elidourado.com)
220 points elidourado | 1 comments | 14 Oct 24 16:31 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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00N8 ◴[14 Oct 24 23:38 UTC] No.41843391[source]▶
One challenge I've heard of is: If you carry 100 tons of cargo from point A to point B in an airship, for the airship to return to point A, it needs to take on another 100 tons of new cargo (or ballast), or it needs to vent (or compress) lifting gas, in order to maintain the correct buoyancy. I wonder what the best approach is here, & how it affects the economics? Is water ballast safe & cheap enough, or is there a better way?
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imoverclocked ◴[15 Oct 24 02:58 UTC] No.41844487[source]▶
> it needs to take on another 100 tons of new cargo (or ballast) ... in order to maintain the correct buoyancy.

Sounds perfect for a cargo situation. Add new cargo as old cargo is removed.

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1. knowaveragejoe ◴[15 Oct 24 03:55 UTC] No.41844801[source]▶
As I understand it, it's common for a cargo ship to unload full containers and take on empties for the return voyage. Are cargo vessels holds always partially full vs. empty containers, bouncing between ports?

Would this issue even be a problem for fixed routes? If you're always taking full containers between two points, that is.