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Is a Ground-effect vehicle (a.k.a. ekranoplan) practical in seas near the coast (e.g. the US East Coast, West Coast, and Gulf of Mexico)?

I'm looking for a practicality answer, like, nope, cannot be done, yes, it can, or, we don't really know yet.

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  • $\begingroup$ Problem is you have all these vehicles flying around at high speed at the same altitude. If it got busy enough you'd eventually get them running into each other. $\endgroup$
    – John K
    Jul 20, 2022 at 1:59
  • $\begingroup$ This is being done right now (article from April 2022): "A prototype sea-to-air passenger craft has clocked more than 35 knots (70kph) in sea trials off Tampa, Florida this month - and a New Zealand company is today announcing the $700 million purchase of some of the first commercial production models." newsroom.co.nz/… $\endgroup$
    – Greg Hewgill
    Jul 20, 2022 at 2:44
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    $\begingroup$ can you define what you mean by "practical"? $\endgroup$
    – Federico
    Jul 20, 2022 at 4:43
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    $\begingroup$ As far as I know no ground-effect vehicle has ever operated regularly on the open ocean. $\endgroup$
    – GdD
    Jul 20, 2022 at 16:01
  • $\begingroup$ @Federico: Sure, practical = can capture most of the benefits of travel in a lake environment or Caspian Sea (like ekratoplan), but in an ocean environment near the coast. $\endgroup$
    – ekranoplan
    Jul 21, 2022 at 1:35

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