A mechanical actuator to generate adjustable force ants its active control algorithm to minimize ship structural vibration are developed. The algorithms comprise initial algorithm which determines optimal phase and force magnitude of the actuator using the variation of vibration response according to the phase difference between the main engine and the actuator, and regulating algorithm which performs continuous optimal control to track the change of the engine speed. This control system can be applied without any prior identification for the dynamic characteristics of the controlled structure. In the control experiments for the deckhouse structural vibration of a 300,000 DWT crude oil carrier and a 2,270 TEU container carrier, the developed system showed good performance to reduce the vibration levels to $1/2{sim}1/6$ of the uncontrolled levels.