Abstract: A device for measuring the draft of a vessel including a tube of a known length having a lower end adapted to be immersed in water a fixed distance from a main deck or other reference point on the vessel, and a pressure sensor directly mounted at the lower end of the tube to measure the pressure head of the water at the lower end of the tube. The pressure at the lower end of the tube is used to determine the distance between a fixed reference point (draft line) on the side of the vessel and the actual surface of the water. This depth is then used to calculate the depth of the hull beneath the surface of the water or the draft of the vessel.