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UAS London at 51.5074° N, 0.1278° W
Thames Drone Surveys at Erith Reach - UAS London
Thames & River Marine Services

Thames Drone Surveys at Erith Reach

Specialist over-water thames drone surveys at Erith Reach for marine engineering, logistics, and creative media.

UAS London covers Erith Reach as part of our tidal Thames operating area. Typical briefs cover vessel tracking, riverside development, bridge condition and event coverage. Where a brief covers several reaches, we plan them into one run down the river.

Magnetic interference near steel structures at Erith Reach is factored into the flight plan. Cinema, inspection and mapping payloads can all be flown on the same tide window. Where the site is a live wharf or works, we operate to the principal contractor's permit system.

Any Erith Reach operation is logged with the river authorities before the crew arrives. Failsafe return-to-home points account for drift, tide and a moving launch platform. Nothing goes up until the paperwork, the tide plan and the brief agree with each other.

Delivery is by secure cloud transfer with the raw capture archived as backup. Send us the dates and the shot list and we will tell you which tides are viable. We can hold a provisional tide window while you confirm internally.

Marine Specifications in Erith Reach

VHF marine radio equipped pilots
Dynamic ship-to-ship tracking shots
Bridge and pier structural inspection clearance
Georeferenced river and foreshore mapping
Water-safety trained flight crews
Specialist marine aviation insurance (£10M)

Book River Filming

Drone operations at Erith Reach require Port of London Authority clearance and skipper-coordinated flight paths.

Request River Booking

Thames Operational Specs

  • PLA Coordination Managed
  • VHF Radio Pilot Logs
  • MCA-Coded Support Vessels
  • £10M Maritime Insurance
  • GPS Tracked Over-Water Flights
  • Wind-shear resistant platforms
RegulatoryCAA approved operator
Insurance£10M public liability
Experience1,000+ flight hours in London airspace
AirspaceNATS permissions for central London operations
RegisteredUAS London Limited · 16148461

Frequently Asked Questions

Who owns the footage from the Erith Reach shoot?

Licensing is agreed before the flight and written into the quote. Tell us whether the material is for broadcast, marketing, an operational record or a planning submission and we scope the licence accordingly.

Do you need Port of London Authority approval to fly at Erith Reach?

Any professional drone operation on the tidal Thames, including Erith Reach, requires notification to and coordination with the PLA and London VTS. UAS London manages those clearances as part of the service.

Can you launch drones directly from boats at Erith Reach?

Yes. Through our partnership with Cinecraft we have access to MCA-coded workboats and support vessels, and our pilots are experienced in launching and recovering from a moving deck.