MARINE PROPULSION CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD WITH PROXIMITY-BASED VELOCITY LIMITING

A propulsion control system (20) on a marine vessel (10) includes at least one propulsion device (12a,12b) configured to propel the marine vessel (10) and at least one proximity sensor system (70,72,74,76,78) configured to generate proximity measurements (90) describing a proximity of an object (O) with respect to the marine vessel (10). The system (20) further includes a controller (24) configured to receive proximity measurements (90), access a preset buffer distance (50), and calculate a velocity limit (113a-f) in a direction of the object (O) for the marine vessel (10) based on the proximity measurements (90) and the preset buffer distance (50) so as to progressively decrease the velocity limit (113a-f) as the marine vessel (10) approaches the preset buffer distance (50) from the object (O).