Abstract: Based on the source number estimation, a vibration source identification method was proposed for the surveillance and diagnosis of the ship. Using this method, source number is firstly estimated based on the Gerschgo rin＇s disk theorem which can effectively distinguish the source signals from noise signal. Then ,independent sources are separated by the blind source separation technique ,and the separated signals can locate their i individual vibration source by employing the spectrum correlation. Finally, the condition of the equipment in the ship can be identified using the available well-established diagnosis techniques. The validity of the pr oposed methodology was confirmed on a ship model in this paper.