Flying over Cruise Ships

Bunraku · Jul 20, 2018

Hi

Tomorrow 2 cruise ships of over 100,000 tonnes will park nearby. They are too large to dock in my city(UK) so will moor in an estuary nearby. I will film them with my drone 50m+ from the sides and maybe orbit.
However I wanted to know the legality of flying directly over the ships? Bearing in mind they will be stationary with no or little passengers on deck although that may make no difference.

Thanks

JoBri · Jul 20, 2018

Maybe you can't fly a drone over those 2 cruise ships. It is necessary to ask permissions

MrRobville · Jul 20, 2018

Flying over them is a bit of a grey area I think, especially with only a few people on deck. Since asking permission is really tough, I'd advice to just take extra caution and judge the situation when you are near them. If the deck is crowded, you may want to keep distance and not fly over.
One small tip, try to stay clear of the antenna and those big satellite domes. They could cause a bit of a disturbance when flying close by.

JoBri · Jul 22, 2018

MrRobville said:
Flying over them is a bit of a grey area I think, especially with only a few people on deck. Since asking permission is really tough, I'd advice to just take extra caution and judge the situation when you are near them. If the deck is crowded, you may want to keep distance and not fly over.
One small tip, try to stay clear of the antenna and those big satellite domes. They could cause a bit of a disturbance when flying close by.

This is well explained, you have the point sir because we don't want to think that we are a treat for them.. Actually antennas and satellite domes may actually react on your drone's signal interference.

macoman · Jul 22, 2018

Keeping the distance is the key, no issues as your drone is only flying away from the ship. I don't think a permission is need it. Unless there is a law that prohibited this activity in the UK. I am from the US.

cronemeister · Jul 23, 2018

I watched this over the weekend in complete awe

I think I heard the guy mention the everglades at the beginning of the video. Not sure you'd get away with that in the UK

macoman · Jul 23, 2018

cronemeister said:
I watched this over the weekend in complete awe I think I heard the guy mention the everglades at the beginning of the video. Not sure you'd get away with that in the UK

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I am subscribe to his YouTube channel... He is not longer active. Love his cruise ship chase.

cronemeister · Jul 23, 2018

macoman said:
I am subscribe to his YouTube channel... He is not longer active. Love his cruise ship chase.

Maybe the authorities caught up with him after viewing that and he's in prison

JoostGT3 · Jul 23, 2018

In the Netherlands it is officially forbidden to fly over industrial zones, highways and harbours. Tbh, I don’t mind too much to fly over the water of a harbor. Directly over a ship may be something different. Also keep in mind that these things are HUGE and TALL. Flying at 50m above the water might not be all that high above the ship!

JoBri · Jul 23, 2018

cronemeister said:
Maybe the authorities caught up with him after viewing that and he's in prison

He might be in prison after that Cruise ship chase. I admit this video is awesome

Chip · Jul 24, 2018

Bunraku, there was a post a while back about some guy in the UK who landed his drone on a Royal Navy ship and then went to complain to the Admiral about the abysmal state of ship security as evidenced by how easy it was for him to fly and land there! Personally, I would not fly over or near cruise ship because they have legit security concern and its illegal to get too close in any type of vessel so by logical extension I would include drone. No idea about UK rules but what did you decide to do?

gjmphoto · Jul 24, 2018

Just trying to think of the FAA regulations. Assuming no airports or heliports nearby, no NOTAMs for restricted events, and no NFZs, "flying over people" is the only one I can think of that would be against regulation. So if you avoided flying directly over the ship, I would imagine that would be fine. Am I missing something?

BaNZ · Jul 24, 2018

I flew close to a luxurious parked yacht. As soon as I got close, I got severe interference and start losing control over the drone. So do be careful as they probably have some kind of satellite receiver or GPS stuff that might cause interference.

JoBri · Jul 25, 2018

Chip said:
Bunraku, there was a post a while back about some guy in the UK who landed his drone on a Royal Navy ship and then went to complain to the Admiral about the abysmal state of ship security as evidenced by how easy it was for him to fly and land there! Personally, I would not fly over or near cruise ship because they have legit security concern and its illegal to get too close in any type of vessel so by logical extension I would include drone. No idea about UK rules but what did you decide to do?

The thing here is we will not easily invade the privacy of others especially we must ask permissions thoroughly.

wanderer · Jul 25, 2018

I did this flight 4 years ago with a Phantom 2 and home-brew FPV. I didn't dare get as close as the CopterTube guy. I've gotta say--flying over a mile out with a P2 and fuzzy video was a butt-clencer. We have it so easy with our Mavic Pros now!