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I fancied a road trip and photography adventure, to be honest I wanted something I could chase, after all, it has been one of the most quiet Summers for storms I've ever seen. As many of you know I'm a big fan of filming ocean vessels, something I've been doing for the better part of nine years now. I find ships fascinating and mysterious, have you ever spent a day at the coast and saw a big ship out at sea and wondered where it was going?, what kind of cargo it was carrying?, and even what kind of ship was it?, these are all natural questions to ask and it was this curiosity which got me interested in the subject many years ago especially as I did spend a lot time doing day and night photography along the coast during that period.
To cut a long story short chasing ships with a drone has become one of my main passions which compliments my weather and night sky photo shoots. When I say ship chasing this might not be the correct term as that conjures up imagery of recklessness, this not what I mean. For me the thrill comes in being able to expertly fly out over the exposed ocean, risking the life of an expensive drone, and being able to safely yet cinematically film a moving vessel in such a manner that portrays majesty and flow while revealing all the interesting aspects of a particular ship which observers on shore would never get to see. The visualization and planning, working out weather conditions, light, timing, tide times, wind speed and direction etc to get the footage is something which I really enjoy.
I've filmed hundreds of ships over the years with four drones, one of them even ended up in the sea. I publish all these flights on my youtube channel because if I posted every ship chase on the website it would be too much and would overshadow all my other astro work. However, there are exceptions, any ship chase which was an adventure, something different like a large cruise ship, or night flight, or an unusual vessel, it's this last category which makes it onto the website, especially if I'm happy with how it all went.
The Port of Larne is a very interesting place, famous for its continuous ferry trips to Scotland and back but with the exception of the odd small tanker and cargo vessel it doesn't have the large amounts of marine traffic like other Ports such as Lisahally/Foyle Port, Port of Belfast and so on, however it makes up for this by periodically getting visited by impressive and unique vessels known as Off-Shore Supply Vessels and even Cable Laying vessels. These can be stunning ships with dramatic appearance and structure so they are always on my dream list. Over the years I've filmed the MPI Adventure, C S Sovereign, Wind Server, and Connector, all of which have been amazing to capture and worth the long drive every time.
Recently I noticed that the MPI Adventure was back in Port of Larne for supplies and repairs, I had filmed her before at sunrise back in December 15th 2021 and I was really in awe of her presence. Back then she was a beautiful red colour but a few months later the company which owns her, MPI Offshore, re-sprayed the ship in their new blue colour scheme. When I heard about this I was determined to film her once again in the future to record her new appearance and this brings me back to August 8th 2024. The MPI had left her berth in port and was anchored off Larne in an area called Drains Bay, the port was extremely busy with numerous vessels coming and going and the MPIs berth was needed by other ships, hence why she was waiting out in the bay, this would be my chance to get her.
I felt a sudden urge to go for it, it was always a risk as I didn't know her movements, it was possible she could sail away to another destination while I was driving and the trip would be in vain, or she could go back into Port in which case it would be of little photogenic value to me, I needed her out in the sea in her element. I had a feeling she would be staying out overnight so before I made my decision I checked the weather. The wind was Wly at 15mph blowing off the land however in the evening it would back SWly and ease, there would be no rain and the maps indicated an evening of clear skies and passing cloud so I reckoned the chances of getting light was decent, if I waited for another time the wind would get worse so I decided on August 8th I was going to get her.
The plan was to arrive during the late evening, film her in daylight, then wait to twilight or darkness and film her once again with her lights on, I reckoned the latter would be a really cool scene. So I packed the van with supplies and at 18.00 Rhua and I left Cookstown and headed on our road trip. We took the scenic route through Broughshane, over the Glens Of Antrim, through Glenarm, then we followed the coast around to the Ballygally area where Roisin and I got married, the castle brought back a lot of memories. The view of Drains Bay was hidden from view by the cliffs but when I rounded a bend the ship suddenly came into view, there she was sitting out at sea with another ship and the evening sunshine was shinning on her, the view in that light was absolutely spectacular, this was what I was looking for. I began to speed up, eager to get to a location to fly from to take full advantage of that amazing light then I got stuck behind a slow moving tanker lorry on the road moving at 20mph, I was stuck behind it for 20 min's then I found a lay by and got pulled in overlooking the Bay.
I opened the door, set-up the drone as swiftly as I could, powered it on, the props began spinning, then broken cloud drifted in and cast shadows on the ship, I couldn't believe it, that tanker had cost me that epic light. I packed the gear, had a brew and snacks, then Rhua and I went for a walk along the shore. We found a nice location and sat on large rocks watching the ship and waiting for better light. I had to admit she made for an imposing sight, even if you are not interested in ships you would have to admit she commanded attention, she was a head turner, I saw many people watching her while out for their evening walk. Rhua and I waited and waited, it was a fantastic evening with huge sectors of clear blue sky and sunshine but for some reason the broken cloud behind me seemed to cover the sun a lot or else cast cloud shadows onto the bay, it was so frustrating. If I waited any longer the sun would be setting so I decided I would fly out to her anyway, I needed to get that first flight done to contend myself. Actually the light was fine, not direct sunshine on her but the broken clouds were high and there was plenty of ambient light, it was time to get in the air.
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I hand launched the DJI Mavic 3 Classic, changed the frequency to 2.4Gz, selected an appropriate manual white balance, did a visual check to make sure the area was safe, then flew out low skimming over the rocks by a couple of meters then emerged over the sea guiding the drone between flocks of seagulls, then I arrived at the MPI. This is an off-shore supply vessel but also a wind turbine installation ship, she's designed to transport wind turbine blades and turbines components to off-shore wind farms, she then secures the base of the turbines onto the sea floor and assembles the motor and blades, it's a precise and delicate operation, at one time she was the largest turbine carrier in the world.
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To aid with these operations she has six huge vertical legs towering 60m high, these legs lower into the sea and rest on the ocean floor, then the vessel jacks itself upward out of the water so she can undertake her work with great stability, this is why she is often called a jack-up vessel, with her legs down the view would not be unlike an ocean oil rig.
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Flying around to her starboard side, two huge wind turbine blades jutted out from her side, I had to be careful not to get too close to those.
Size: 138m x 31m
Flag: Netherlands
Draught: 5.8m
Built: 2011
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While doing a wrap around the MPI I decided to go on out and take a look at the other ship anchored in the bay. This was 'ARROW' a Ro-Ro (roll on roll off) cargo vessel with a design similar to a ferry which takes cars on board. I've actually been after this ship for a long time and finally got to tick her off the list, she has a nice streamlined form.
I flew back to shore due to a low battery, I landed with 17% remaining which was close enough. I then waited and waited, watching the clouds moving past the sun, if I timed it rite I would get one more daylight flight in at golden hour or sunset. It never happened, I went back to the van and had another brew, I was looking forward to a nice snack pot I had purchased with granola, oats and chocolate, I opened the lid and set it on the seat, it was now sunset and it looked like the ship was going to light up so I literally flew the drone out again while standing outside the van, just as I raced across the sea the sunset glow was gone and it was back in shadow, I was committed now so continued on my my second flight.
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All these images so far are still frames from the video footage, please make sure to watch the daylight footage below to get a better feel for the flight and this impressive vessel. You know you have a cool vessel in front of you when it has a helicopter landing pad, or else its winch only, I'm not sure, but I would say a helicopter could land on that when the six legs are down and crane moved away from its stowed position.
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MPI Adventure and ARROW together in the half light of a partially hidden sunset. In the distance I saw a small tanker heading inbound to Port of Larne and the ferry making several trips.
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I was curious to see what she looked like from above so I flew straight over her and panned the camera straight down for a proper still image with the 20MP camera. What a cool view, I hoped to try this angle again after dark. In the darkening sky I saw the cruise ship Island Sky leaving Larne for her next destination. I flew back to shore and landed, that's two batteries used up and I only had one more remaining so I needed to make that one count. I looked into the passenger seat and saw that Rhua was eating my oat chocolate pot, the rascal.
Rhua and I went out for post-sunset walk along the shore of Drains Bay, it was a gorgeous evening, warm and humid, and the breeze had dropped away to nothing. We returned to the van and rested, I sat the entire time with the window down just starring at the ship as the ambient light darkened, then I could see her lights, at first they were subtle but with time they became bright and striking, she looked like some kind of Alien spaceship. The temptation was strong to fly out and get her in this moody light but I had to restrain myself as timing was critical. If I went out too early the ship would still be bright and the lights wouldn't stand out as much, but if I waited until it was complete darkness all I would get would be the lights and very little else, I needed that special zone in between to show lights and the ship in the twilight glow. I held back, gave myself another 20 min's then at 22.00 I flew out once more.
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This turned out to ge a top class filming session when I obtained the footage and images I wanted, this was the caliber I had been waiting for. I recorded video footage then paused for still images and the twilight was perfect, the scene was spectacular to witness on location, both with the naked eye and through the FPV drone screen.
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I was so glad I had made the effort to go after her, this flight alone entirely justified the trip for me.
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I went for the look-down overhead view again and this time it was epic, green lights on the sea and red blinking lights on top of all six jack-up legs
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Port side
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What a ship!, I was buzzing, I was delighted to have met the MPI once again, it was like seeing an old friend which always brings back good memories. The battery warning was flashing so I made sure to get back, this time with a 20% landing battery. The big four thirds sensor on the Mavic 3 really done a superb job in this low light. I was really happy with the footage (below) so the adventure was a complete success.
I took one last look at the ship, said farewell then began the long drive home, I kept an eye on the NW twilight for NLCs then the sky clouded over. I made it home just after midnight and the sky had cleared once more, I enjoyed looking at the Milky Way and checked on recurrent Nova TCrB then went to bed. Little did I know that in a few days time a big thunderstorm set-up would appear and that I would be out chasing once more under the cover of darkness, but I will save that adventure for the next report.
Two daylight flights combined filmed at pre-sunset then sunset including the Ro-Ro vessel ARROW
The main event, twilight footage of the MPI Adventure with her lights which made for a really ambient video, please make sure to watch in a dark room for full effect. I hope you enjoyed this ship chase with me, hopefully it wont be too long before another unusual vessel makes its way to Larne. In the meantime thanks very much for reading.
Martin McKenna
