Abstract： A new concept unmanned surface vehicle (USV) i.e. shuttle vessel with semiplaning wavepiercing feature is introduced, and its excellent maneuverability is studied. According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) standards for ship manoeuvrability, the system of the freerunning shuttle vessel model is built to do some standard freerunning model maneuverability tests and to obtain the related data. The maneuverability of the shuttle vessel is studied and analyzed according to the ship maneuverability theory combined with the experimental data. The results demonstrate that the shuttle vessel has good maneuverability and flexibility, and it has its own unique maneuverability characteristics and advantages. Some analyses of its unique characteristics are done by numerical computation method.