Laser cleaning is a technology that irradiates the cleaning object with a laser and causes pollutants to leave the substrate surface through thermal vibration, ablation and other processes. The use of laser cleaning technology in the field of ships can reduce the substrate damage of the plate, facilitate the subsequent coating, transformation and other processes of the plate, and improve the service time of the ship. According to the mechanism of laser rust removal layer and the current laser rust removal process on the market, this paper mainly describes the application of laser rust removal technology in ships, as well as the research progress and development trend of laser rust removal, and discusses the limitations of laser rust removal technology in the field of ships.