A practical Ship Inner Shell Optimization Method (SISOM), the purpose of which is to improve the safety of the seagoing transport ship by decreasing the maximum Still Water Bending Moment (SWBM) of the hull girder under all typical loading conditions, is presented in this paper. The objective of SISOM is to make the maximum SWBM minimum, and the section areas of the inner shell are taken as optimization variables. The main requirements of the ship performances, such as cargo hold capacity, propeller and rudder immersion, bridge visibility, damage stability and prevention of pollution etc., are taken as constraints. The penalty function method is used in SISOM to change the above nonlinear constraint problem into an unconstrained one, which is then solved by applying the steepest descent method. After optimization, the optimal section area distribution of the inner shell is obtained, and the shape of inner shell is adjusted according to the optimal section area. SISOM is applied to a product oil tanker and a bulk carrier, and the maximum SWBM of the two ships is significantly decreased by changing the shape of inner shell plate slightly. The two examples prove that SISOM is highly efficient and valuable to engineering practice.