A ship lock utilizes a hydraulic turbine and/or pump-turbine to regulate the discharge flow rates through the ship lock to an approximate constant value during the majority of the water transfer cycle resulting in a diminishing of total energy of head losses and to enable the recuperation of the unused hydraulic energy for generation as electricity. The difference in water levels on opposite sides of the ship lock constitutes potential hydraulic energy. By regulating the discharge, the total head losses over a given period of time diminish very significantly, thus giving an opportunity for optimization of hydraulic energy recuperation.