The advancement of computer performance and the development of artificial intelligence technology have promoted the transformation of the shipping industry towards intelligence, and more and more ships are equipped with intelligent systems. Ship intelligent systems can replace crew members to perform various repetitive and harsh work, and play a very important role in improving work efficiency and safety. With the development of ship intelligent systems, there are significant differences in the intelligence levels of different systems. It is necessary to assign reasonable tasks based on the evaluation level of intelligence so that intelligent systems can autonomously complete them. Therefore, accurately evaluating the ability of intelligent systems is very important. This article first outlines the current research status and significance of ship intelligent system level assessment, and then introduces and analyzes existing intelligent system level assessment methods. Next, a cobweb model based on “task + ability” for evaluating the intelligence level of ship intelligent systems is proposed, and finally, this cobweb model is employed to assess the level of intelligence of the intelligent system installed on a specific scientific research vessel.