Drones have not had the best publicity in the UK of late, with sightings of rogue machines grounding flights at airports.
But the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is hoping to showcase its more useful side with a new search-and-rescue trial.
Drones will be tested as extra "eyes in the sky" off the coast of Essex over the next year, the MCA said.
The trial is being run with Essex Police and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
The drones will help search for casualties in dangerous locations, directing MCA and RNLI crews.
Phil Hanson, the MCA's aviation technical assurance manager, said: "Thanks to the Essex Police drone unit, we are able to trial this innovative technology to help rescuers on the front line with more accurate aerial vision, conduct searches in hard-to-reach or hazardous areas, assist with night-time thermal imagery searches and relaying messages from rescuers to casualties.
"This will allow rescuers to make more informed decisions and ultimately help make the coast safer — particularly as the busy season is now almost upon us."
