A procedure to automatically maneuver surface ships on a given target path has been outlined in this paper. The ship maneuvering model is nonlinear. The procedure hinges on a Target Path Iteration (TPI) controller integrated with genetic algorithm (GA). GA is used to obtain the optimum command rudder angle and length of target trajectory in a particular simulation time step with the objective to minimize the mean squared error of the actual path taken by the ship vis-à-vis the target trajectory. The proposed control algorithm has been implemented on a variety of straight line and curved trajectories and the results show that the method used is accurate and robust. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd