In view of the increasing global climate change and extreme weather events, the impact of marine thunderstorms on navigation and offshore operations has become more and more serious. However, due to the lack of understanding of the characteristics and mechanisms of marine thunderstorms, coupled with the scarcity of marine observation data, it is difficult to track and forecast marine thunderstorms. In response to the above problems, this article comprehensively summarizes the latest progress in the field of marine thunderstorm research at home and abroad from the perspective of meteorological forecasters, covering mar-ine thunderstorm monitoring methods and technologies, activity characteristics and formation mechanisms for the purpose of sorting and discussing the current status, development trends and key issues of global marine thunderstorm research. Based on the review, the future research direction of marine thunderstorms in China is discussed, including strengthening the construction of marine observation systems, building marine thunderstorm data sets, deepening the study of the formation mechanisms of marine thunderstorms and strengthening the application of artificial intelligence to build accurate prediction models. The content of this article can provide research results on marine thunderstorms and better serve the safety of navigation and offshore operations and the reduction of the adverse effects of marine thunderstorms.