This paper investigates ship–pier collision risk caused by yaw deviation in inland bridge waterways. The proposed framework is conceived for fixed auxiliary thruster installation in bridge areas, rather than retrofitting shipboard propulsion systems. A proactive intervention scheme is developed based on state estimation and short-horizon prediction. A Kalman filter is used for state fusion and short-horizon motion prediction. Yaw events are detected via a threshold rule with consecutive-decision logic. An extended state observer (ESO) is adopted to estimate lumped disturbances and model uncertainties. A fuzzy self-tuning PID law is then applied to generate thruster commands for closed-loop corrective control. Numerical simulations suggest that, relative to rudder-only recovery, thruster-assisted intervention yields improved restoration behavior, reduced lateral deviation accumulation, and increased minimum clearance to bridge piers under the tested conditions. Additional tests with cross-current disturbances indicate that the risk-triggered scheme with ESO-based compensation can maintain stable recovery and a higher safety margin. The proposed approach provides an engineering-oriented pathway to extend bridge-area risk management from warning-level assessment to executable control intervention.