To evaluate the unsteady motion in laterally berthing maneuver, it is necessary to estimate clearly the magnitudes and properties of hydrodynamic forces acting on ship hull in shallow water. A numerical simulation has been performed to investigate quantitatively the hydrodynamic force according to water depth for Wigley model using the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) technique. By comparing the computational results with the experimental ones, the validity of the CFD method was verified. The numerical solutions successfully captured some features of transient flow around the berthing ship. The transitional lateral force in a state ranging from the rest to the uniform motion is modeled by using the concept of circulation.