Currently, commercially available systems for ship navigation and remote data transmission technology are maritime satellites and BeiDou satellite systems, the global positioning system (GPS), and mobile communication technology. Among these, mobile communication technology and GPS can only perform ship navigation and lack data transmission functionality. In this research, we analyze technical characteristics of several common remote data transmission methods and we develop and design an in-ship remote data transmission system based on the BeiDou Satellite Navigation Sensor System (BDS). We use an STC89C52RC data acquisition microcontroller chip, which is connected with an HS215 BeiDou communication position module via an RS232 standard serial port that allows us to capture, collect, parse, package, and send ship data. We adopt the shore-based ship standard NMEA protocol to receive, parse, display, and save data. Our system is tested in a simulation and with a real ship, and the results are in line with expectations (low cost, reliable, and safe). We believe that our system will be economically and socially beneficial by solving maritime problems and also beneficial to the safety and emergency rescue of marine vessels. Table 1 Comparison of ship remote data transmission technologies. Communication technology Communication features Scope of application Universal mobile communication network Low communication cost and large network bandwidth; small coverage and low network security. Suitable for inland rivers and offshore ships. Automatic identification system (AIS) Can directly realize the speed measurement navigation function of ship positioning and monitoring and carry out information broadcasting; high service cost, seriously affected by electromagnetic environment interference, communication distance is limited. Suitable for inland rivers and offshore ships. Maritime satellite system Can provide data link for ocean-going ships; high cost, low communication bandwidth, maximum speed is only 492 Kbps. Suitable for global navigation ships. Spread spectrum communication technology Strong concealment and good anti-interference performance; the system uses a wide frequency band and has a limited data transmission rate and distance. Suitable for inland rivers and offshore ships. GPS Accurate positioning and strong anti-interference ability. Only applicable to ship positioning, unable to achieve communication. BDS All-weather, all-day, high-precision positioning; short message communication has low cost and high security. Suitable for global navigation ships.