In order to analyze the rolling motion of a ship in random beam waves we use the partial stochastic linearization method. The quadratic damping and the nonlinear restoring moments given by the odd polynomials up to the 11th order are added to a single degree of freedom linear equation of roll motion. The irregular excitation moment is assumed to be the Gaussian white noise. The statistical characteristics of the response by the partial stochastic linearization method is compared with results by the equivalent linearization method and Monte Carlo simulation. It is fecund that the partial stochastic linearization method is not necessarily superior to the equivalent linearization method.