In order to provide the technical support for the safety of ship structure design, this paper focuses on the response of stiffened plate structure under in-plane compression by utilizing the nonlinear structural analysis code ABAQUS, once ultimate strength of the stiffened plate is reached, the load-displacement relationships, i.e. the post-ultimate strength behaviour can be obtained. Parametric dependencies of the post-ultimate strength behaviour of stiffened plates,such as geometric dimensions of plate, material parameters, initial imperfection and boundary conditions which influence the load carrying capacity are explored. Conclusions can be drawn: The increase of number of stiffeners is advantageous for enhancing the load carrying capacity of the structure when the deflection is assumed, and increasing of thickness of plate cannot effectively improve the load carrying capacity of the damaged structure.