The traditional anti-swing control algorithm does not consider the coupling between the change of rope length and the swing angle when solving the swing problem of the work boat. As a result, the swing amplitude of the work boat is increased. Aiming at the above problems, a trajectory tracking strategy of PD control considering rope changes is proposed. Firstly, a nonlinear system model with rope change rate is constructed to describe the transient response characteristics of the external disturbance torque and control stability torque of the marine crane. Then, the model is constrained linearly according to the underdrive characteristics of ship crane. The simulation results show that the average swing amplitude of the working boat is reduced by 63.05% and that of the reverse one by 62.03%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]