The present invention represents a procedure for compensating the heave movement of offshore cranes. The dynamic model of the compensation actuator (hydraulically operated winch) and the load hanging on a rope are derived. Based on this model, a path-tracking control unit is developed. To compensate the movement of the ship/watercraft caused by waves, the heave movement is defined as a time-varying disturbance and is analyzed with respect to uncoupling conditions. With a model expansion, these conditions are satisfied, and an inversion-based uncoupling control law is formulated. To stabilize the system, an observer is used for reconstructing the unknown state by means of a force measurement. Furthermore, the compensation efficiency can be improved by predicting the heave movement. There is proposed a prediction method in which no ship/watercraft models or properties are required. The simulation and measurement results validate the heave compensation method.