Marine Vessel Fender and Control System

Maintenance personnel need to be safely transferred to offshore structures from marine vessels in varying sea and weather conditions. Disclosed herein is a control system for a marine vessel (100) having a propulsion and steering system (101) and a fender arrangement (102) at the bow of the marine vessel to provide contact between the marine vessel and an external structure (103). The control system comprises force, pressure, torque or strain sensors and a controller. The force, pressure, torque or strain sensors measure force, pressure, torque or strain that are indicative of forces between the fender arrangement (102) and the external structure (103). The controller controls the operation of the propulsion and steering system (101) to substantially obtain or maintain desired forces between the fender arrangement (102) and the external structure (103) based on the force, pressure, torque or strain measurements from the force, pressure, torque or strain sensors.