Cloud model control theory is emerging field in the intelligent control subject, consequently the research on it focuses on enlarging its application and making it be engineering and practical. As the ship motion model contains uncertainty and random external disturbance, tried to apply cloud model to the dynamic positioning control process. An improved design based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) was proposed to overcome the difficulty in parameters regulation of cloud model controller. In order to avoid premature convergence in standard PSO, the adaptive PSO (APSO) was introduced. Simulation results verify that the designed cloud model controller and particle swarm optimization are feasible and effective.