DARPA, NASA, and, the DOD have been studying airship technology for years as rapid military transports. There are benefits (faster than ships, not bound by waterways, less crew intensive) and liabilities (vulnerable to wind and weather, vulnerable in general to enemy fire, and, able to carry less for their size than a comparable ship.)
It is a neo-novel concept. The would fill a niche somewhere between sea-going vessels and transport aircraft but that niche and how important it is is the question.