wiesbaden, germany (dpa) - at the moment it exists only as a modeland a computer simulation but in 2000 a dirigible the size of abattleship is due to take to the skies from the sandy soil of themark brandenburg region near berlin. the team behind the cargo airship cl 160 are convinced that their creation will help solve some of today's logistically difficult transport problems.

the 240-metre-long descendant of the airship that count ferdinand von zeppelin developed in the early 20th century will carry turbines, generators, silos and other bulky items over a distance of thousands of kilometres, direct from the factory to the customer. the cargolifter company in wiesbaden believes that demand for the aerial innovation will be so large that it could usher in a 21st century renaissance of the dirigible.

the first zeppelin era went up in flames on may 6, 1937 when the giant "hindenburg" was destroyed in an accident. it was a decade of disaster for the dirigible: the british r101 caught fire in 1930, three years later the u.s. shenandoah and akron were lost. the catastrophes with hydrogen-filled airships and the loss of so many lives shattered public confidence in a form of transport which had carried tens of thousands of passengers without mishap only two decades before.

helium, which is also lighter than air, is the safer alternative but until the end of the cold war it could scarcely be obtained. the u.s. had a virtual monopoly on the gas on which it kept a tight rein for strategic reasons. the lifting of an export embargo buoyed airship construction. alongside the bodensee in southern germany modern zeppelin engineers worked on the 75-metre-long zeppelin nt, which completed its maiden flight last september with 7,200 cubic metres of helium to keep it aloft.

its developers see the airship's future in tourism and as scientific platform. the wiesbaden cargolifter ag is aiming for a different market and has the backing of german heavy plant manufacturers. when a german machinery maker constructs a turbine for an indian power station it must allow two months alone for transport. the cargo is discharged and reloaded several times, bridges and sometimes roads must be reinforced or built from scratch along the way.

"using this method the average speed of transport is eight kilometres an hour," said hinrich schliephack of cargolifter. the makers claim that the cl 160 reaches a speed comparable to a goods train and could cover the same stretch to india in six days. with 450,000 cubic metres of helium and a generous cargo hold the airship can move up to 160 metric tons at a time.

the diesel engines use only a quarter of the fuel consumed by a cargo jet while for landing a runway is as dispensable as a madeup road. the cl 160 needs just a field the size of a football pitch and four robust anchorage points. it can take on cargo and unload without touching down. the mechanism for discharging the cargo is the real innovation of the project.

the cargolifter makes use of satellite navigation and modern materials but its main characteristics date back to the days of the first zeppelins. the loading device is a cargolifter patent for which the company has high hopes. "we have spoken with airship manufacturers around the world and they are all confident it will work," said stuttgart-based aeronautics professor bernd kroeplin.

a 30-metre-long prototype is due to prove the mechanism's worth next may in a trial at the leipzig trade fair grounds. at the economics ministry in potsdam near berlin officials do not regard the airship project as pie in the sky. cargolifter plans to build an airship terminal at the former brand military airbase near berlin from may of next year.

from 1999 onwards a team of 240 employees is set to build three zeppelins a year. the company would like to see a third of the estimated 120 million marks (around 66 million u.s. dollars) of development costs reimbursed by the brandenburg state government. "we are very keen to see brandenburg get this project," said the state premier's spokeswoman patricia schuster.

no decision has yet been made. the cargolifter office in wiesbaden is not very spacious but the globe on the window sill shows the firm has far-reaching ambitions. board chairman carl von gablenz believes the airship could capture 12 per cent of the global marine and air transport market. the 44 airships in the planning stage would, however, only be enough to cater for one per cent of that demand.

for the next generation of zeppelins carl von gablenz is already thinking of innovative motive power. "the airship is the only form of transport technology that could harness solar power," he said. (DPA)