In order to solve the problem of cargo swinging during the lifting and transportation operation of marine cranes, which reduced work efficiency and easily causes safety accidents. A mechanical anti sway device was designed by introducing magnetorheological technology into the field of anti-swing for marine cranes. A three-dimensional dynamic model of ship-crane-lifting point-anti-swing device-lifting weight was derived. The analysis of the anti-swing effect of the device shows that when a constant current is input to the magnetorheological anti-swing device, the anti-swing effect becomes more obvious as the current increases. Under the set working background, when a current of 2 A is given, the suppression of the in-plane and out-plane angles of the lifting weight is 75% and 82%, respectively. In order to optimize the control strategy, reduce energy consumption, and improve the robustness of anti-swing, a variable universe fuzzy PID (VUFPID) controller was designed. When using the VUFPID controller, the anti-swing device suppresses the in-plane and out-plane angles of the lifting weight by 85% and 83%, respectively, with an energy consumption of approximately 113 J. When using group A constant current, the anti-swing device suppresses the in-plane and out-plane angles of the lifting weight by 60% and 68%, respectively, and the energy consumption is about 140 J. When using group B constant current, the anti-swing device suppresses the in-plane and out-plane angles of the lifting weight by 50% and 58%, respectively, and the energy consumption is about 110 J. It can be seen that using VUFPID can achieve low energy consumption and significant anti swing effect. Finally, a physical prototype was built to verify the effectiveness of the magnetorheological anti swing device.