Barry Prentice is a professor of supply chain management at the University of Manitoba. He recently submitted a paper to Transport Canada (the Canadian government’s equivalent of America’s Department of Transportation) entitled “Transport Airships for Northern Logistics: Technology for the 21st Century.” It argues that, despite the firey failures of the past, Airships have a lot to offer the world of tomorrow, and even today. After outlining the hurdles of season-limited maritime traffic, risky land transport, and expensive airplane shipping, Prentice writes: Highlighting the efforts of a few existing modern airship companies, Prentice outlines one of the first markets where it seems airships truly offer a competitive advantage. Needing only limited space to deliver their goods and capable of carrying heavy cargoes, airships could act much like ocean-going vessels do for much of the world: hauling in bulk items regularly, without the added costs and speed of airplane delivery. Even better, they’re a tool for the economic development of vast, cold areas that works even if humans manage to halt climate change. Vice
