After N-601SK had already been dismantled in Greece in 2004, N-605SK was also dismantled in 2010. Since this professional “deflation”, both ships have been in storage. The companies “Skyship Cruise AG” and “Skycruise Switzerland AG” are in liquidation. The following options remain in the current situation:

1. takeover by and exhibition in a museum

These two Skyships of “Skyship Cruise AG” are the last remaining of their kind in their original condition. It is therefore a unique opportunity for a museum to exhibit one of these one-offs. If you are considering this, please note the dimensions of the ships and the gondola in the section “The ships”

2. recommissioning for passenger transport at a suitable location

For obvious reasons, this is our preferred option. For recommissioning, the following approximative costs (per ship) should be taken into account:

• Costs for periodic overhaul of parts:          USD 273,000
• Helium filling                                                 USD 200,000
• Operating vehicles:                                      USD 230,000

In addition to these costs, an important prerequisite is that operations are established at a touristically attractive location with sufficient passenger volume, weather conditions allowing safe operation throughout the year and that a hangar is available for periodic maintenance (see downloads “Operation and Maintenance”).

SCL would be available to provide expertise and advice in this case, as the intangible value of specific expertise still exists.

3. conversion of the ships to electric or alternative propulsion

This variant is intended as an additional variant to point 2, such as commissioning one ship and converting the second.

In addition to the existing applications – the most interesting of which are still tourism and sightseeing flights – there are also potentially promising further developments. Electric engines or alternative hybrid, hydrogen or fuel cell drives should actually be of great interest today, and the skyships in particular with their specific construction structure (engines in the nacelle) can be converted with relatively little effort.

4. sale of the ships for other purposes

Of course, there are many other possibilities for further use, e.g. for event gastronomy, in theme parks, in the film industry, in research, for security and surveillance purposes, etc.

5. future-oriented, realistic ideas that go beyond this

And last but not least, we are open to all your other innovative ideas.

HOW TO PROCEED:

Are you interested? Then get in touch with us and express your interest in a takeover. Our idea of a fair selling price (for both ships) if bringing them back into operation is CHF 2 million (Swiss francs). For information: The ships were insured for USD 5 million each during operation.

Make us a proposal and we will also evaluate the offers according to the following criteria and weigh them against each other:

• Sustainable retention of the ships in an operating environment
• Potential of the projectidea
• Potential of the interested party
• Future viability and realisability

Important: A takeover with removal of both or a single ship should take place as soon as possible. We will report here in due course on what happens to the ships.