To determine the probability distribution and corresponding statistical parameters of irregular wave loads on vertical walls，indoor irregular wave loads experiments are conducted and statistical analysis on the acquired data is made.The statistical parameters of wave loads in design reference period of 50 years are derived based on the relationship between the statistical parameters of long-term load and that of short-term load.It is indicated that the short-term wave load follows a Weibull distribution and the long-term wave load follows an extreme I distribution. Key words：harbour engineering；vertical wall；irregular wave；wave load；statistical analysis.