Trouble is capital cost. If it takes the thing 5 days to cross the Atlantic when a jet can do it in one, you multiply the capital cost by 5.
JohnFen · 8h ago
Not if I have to go through the same sort of security as I have to go through to get on a plane. If taking the trip is going to suck anyway, better to make it as short of a trip as possible.
eesmith · 10h ago
I've been reading essentially the same proposals and arguments for a zeppelin revival since I was a teenager in the 1980s reading Popular Mechanics.
If we tax carbon to the point where zeppelins become anywhere near cost competitive with jets then I expect we'll see more passenger and cargo ships using sail.
Which is, ahem, another perennial Popular Mechanics topic, like
But as I recall, the carbon problem with slow passenger travel is that people tend to want things like hot showers, which airships/sailboats heat using fossil fuels, and the people who can afford to travel by ship tend to want a lot of creature comforts, and the staff to provide them.
Who will pay $10,000 for an 8 day sailing across the Atlantic with a small cabin, reheated frozen foods, and 12 liters of water allocated daily for a "Navy shower"?
mytailorisrich · 10h ago
Depending on price they might find a niche for short-ish distance travels to, e.g. near-shore islands currently only reachable by ferry. Although for freight you can just load a ruck on a ferry whereas with those you need to load/unload.
jgwil2 · 5h ago
Another niche could be replacing sight-seeing helicopter trips, especially with all the safety issues the latter seem to be having.
If we tax carbon to the point where zeppelins become anywhere near cost competitive with jets then I expect we'll see more passenger and cargo ships using sail.
Which is, ahem, another perennial Popular Mechanics topic, like
(2020) "This Wind-Powered Super Sailboat Will Carry 7,000 Cars Across the Atlantic" - https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a34272175/wi...
To be sure, there are modern sail cargo ships. The Grain de Sail carries coffee and chocolate, for example, as does the TransOceanic Wind Transport (for the latter, https://www.fastcompany.com/91185144/the-worlds-largest-wind... ).
But as I recall, the carbon problem with slow passenger travel is that people tend to want things like hot showers, which airships/sailboats heat using fossil fuels, and the people who can afford to travel by ship tend to want a lot of creature comforts, and the staff to provide them.
Who will pay $10,000 for an 8 day sailing across the Atlantic with a small cabin, reheated frozen foods, and 12 liters of water allocated daily for a "Navy shower"?