Method for positioning and tracking one or more objects by means of a transceiver unit fixed to a sensor platform, such as an object or vessel, and one or more active or passive retroreflectors arranged at an object to be positioned, wherein the method includes the following steps: a. emitting a fan-shaped pulsed laser beam with predefined vertical and horizontal beam widths by controlling a mirror for emitting the laser beam in the vertical plane and stabilizing the fan-shaped beam relative to the horizontal plane as well as overlapping Instantaneous Field-of-View of a receiver relative to the horizontal plane, b. detecting reflected/returned light from retroreflectors located at one or more objects to be positioned and tracked by means of the controllable mirror and an optical receiver lens focusing the reflected/returned light onto a photodiode array, c. calculating elevation angle to the one or more objects by measuring mirror angle and interpolation of illuminated photodiodes in the photodiode array, measuring azimuth angle and measuring time-of-flight for laser light pulses from transmission to reception, d. calculating range and bearing to the one or more objects relative to instrument-axes of the sensor platform based on information from step c), whereby: step a) includes controlling the mirror based on information from a two axis inclinometer for compensating for angular movements of the sensor platform and/or information about sensor platform movements from a Motion Reference Sensor, such as a Motion Reference Unit or Vertical Reference Unit, and step b) includes focusing the reflected/returned light onto at least two photodiodes of the photodiode array wherein focusing comprises a slight defocusing of the reflected/returned light by the optical receiver lens, and performing vertical discrimination of the photodiode array to distinguish between reflected/returned light from retroreflectors and other sources. a. emitting a fan-shaped pulsed laser beam with predefined vertical and horizontal beam widths by controlling a mirror for emitting the laser beam in the vertical plane and stabilizing the fan-shaped beam relative to the horizontal plane as well as overlapping Instantaneous Field-of-View of a receiver relative to the horizontal plane, b. detecting reflected/returned light from retroreflectors located at one or more objects to be positioned and tracked by means of the controllable mirror and an optical receiver lens focusing the reflected/returned light onto a photodiode array, c. calculating elevation angle to the one or more objects by measuring mirror angle and interpolation of illuminated photodiodes in the photodiode array, measuring azimuth angle and measuring time-of-flight for laser light pulses from transmission to reception, d. calculating range and bearing to the one or more objects relative to instrument-axes of the sensor platform based on information from step c), whereby: step a) includes controlling the mirror based on information from a two axis inclinometer for compensating for angular movements of the sensor platform and/or information about sensor platform movements from a Motion Reference Sensor, such as a Motion Reference Unit or Vertical Reference Unit, and step b) includes focusing the reflected/returned light onto at least two photodiodes of the photodiode array wherein focusing comprises a slight defocusing of the reflected/returned light by the optical receiver lens, and performing vertical discrimination of the photodiode array to distinguish between reflected/returned light from retroreflectors and other sources. step a) includes controlling the mirror based on information from a two axis inclinometer for compensating for angular movements of the sensor platform and/or information about sensor platform movements from a Motion Reference Sensor, such as a Motion Reference Unit or Vertical Reference Unit, and step b) includes focusing the reflected/returned light onto at least two photodiodes of the photodiode array wherein focusing comprises a slight defocusing of the reflected/returned light by the optical receiver lens, and performing vertical discrimination of the photodiode array to distinguish between reflected/returned light from retroreflectors and other sources.