In recent years, as intelligent ship-navigation technology has advanced, the challenge of accurately modeling and predicting the dynamic environment and motion status of ships has emerged as a prominent area of research. In response to the diverse time scales required for the prediction of ship motion, various methods for modeling ship navigation environments, ship motion, and ship traffic flow have been explored and analyzed. Additionally, these motion-prediction methods are applied for motion control, collision-avoidance planning, and route optimization. Key issues are summarized regarding ship-motion prediction, including online modeling of motion models, real ship validation, and consistency in modeling, optimization, and control. Future technology trends are predicted in mechanism-data fusion modeling, large-scale model, multi-objective motion prediction, etc.