As mentioned above, no evidence of a fisheye lens being used, and even such lenses do not show much curvature for things near the centerline of the image.

As for ships and laser pointers, two things to consider: (1) We do not see with straight geometry, because the atmospheric refractive index gradient will cause the light rays to curve slightly and we will see beyond the strict geometric limit. This effect causes the setting or rising sun to be its own disk diameter lower just before geometric sunrise and just after geometric sunset. In radar, this is approximated by the 4/3 Earth rule, but there is still a real horizon, though farther away. (2) If the laser pointer is atop the superstructure, they will see farther anyway. You didn't specify the height above sea level that you are calculating from.

Also, if someone in the superstructure of a ship could see to the horizon 50 miles away. That would be true for someone else in another ship on the opposite side of the horizon. Which means that, superstructure-to-superstructure, they could see each other at a distance of 100 miles. You gotta think about these things.