Patent ID: 8924053

Claim:
A vessel steering system, in which a propulsion unit provided on a vessel body is pivoted on a swivel shaft so that steering is performed, the vessel steering system comprising: a control unit that calculates a control pivoting angle for pivoting the propulsion unit based on a steering angle obtained through steering manipulation by an operator; and a pivoting apparatus that pivots the propulsion unit based on the control pivoting angle calculated by the control unit, wherein the control unit selects a pivoting limit angle for limiting the pivoting of the propulsion unit from a plurality of pivot limit angles which limit the propulsion unit, based on recognition of at least one of the following characteristics: the type of the vessel, the type of the propulsion unit, an actual pivoting angle of a neighboring propulsion unit that is close to the propulsion unit when a plurality of propulsion unit is provided, the distance between the swivel shaft of a reference propulsion unit and the swivel shaft of a neighboring propulsion unit thereof at a time when a plurality of propulsion unit is provided, and the mounting position of the propulsion unit on the vessel, and wherein the control unit controls the pivoting apparatus in such a way that the propulsion unit pivots using the calculated control pivoting angle but does not pivot by more than the selected pivoting limit angle, and wherein the control unit further selects a pivoting limit angle for limiting the pivoting of the propulsion unit from a plurality of pivot limit angles which limit the propulsion unit based on recognition of at least two of the following characteristics: an actual pivoting angle of a neighboring propulsion unit that is close to the propulsion unit when a plurality of propulsion unit is provided, the distance between the swivel shaft of a reference propulsion unit and the swivel shaft of a neighboring propulsion unit thereof at a time when a plurality of propulsion unit is provided, and the mounting position of the propulsion unit on the vessel.