Ship pipe route design(SPRD)is one of the most complex and timeconsuming processes in ship detail design.Currently,there are many researches on the optimization of ship pipe routes,but there is still a lack of effective and convenient methods to build the pipe routing space.In order to solve this problem,a piping space modeling method for SPRD is proposed.This method is based on stereo lithographic(STL)file which is commonly used in data exchange,and it can convert the initial space model built in 3D-CAD software into the data model required by the pipe routing algorithms.For the application purpose,a piping space modeling utility(PSMU)is developed with Python and OpenGL,promoting the development of practical pipe routing system.Finally,the feasibility and practicability of the proposed method are verified by the experiment on the piping space of an actual ship fuel system.