This　study　proposes　a　ship　recognition　system　which　includes　intelligent　bridge　piers　and　a　ship　recognition　server.　The　ship　recognition　server　can　analyse　the　contour　features　of　ship　images　from　intelligent　bridge　piers　by　the　proposed　contour　accentuation　method;　the　ship　image　with　contour　accentuation　can　be　adopted　as　the　inputs　of　transfer　learning-based　neural　network　for　ship　classification　by　the　proposed　transfer　learning-based　ship　recognition　method.　In　practical　experiments,　the　results　showed　that　the　proposed　transfer　learning-based　ship　recognition　method　with　contour　accentuation　can　obtain　higher　accuracy,　and　the　accuracy　of　the　proposed　method　was　97.79%.　©　2020　ACM.