Systematic testing, verification and reliability evaluation of autonomous navigation capability are important prerequisites for the industrial application of intelligent ships. To clarify the requirements of different test objects for autonomous navigation test scenarios, the test object, scenario definition, construction method and testing approach of autonomous navigation test scenarios are sorted out. Based on the characteristics in test object and scenario requirements, the scenario construction methods are divided into real data extraction, mechanism modeling and reconstruction, data-driven derivation, and optimization search methods. The performance and characteristics of different scenario construction methods are compared and described, and the problems of scenario construction methods are analyzed in combination with different testing requirements such as algorithm verification optimization, performance evaluation, and safety verification. Research results show that the scenario construction technology for practical applications should fully consider the complete description of the test scenario structure system, scenario combination explosion, and scenario system dynamics evolution. Future research should focus on the development trend of heterogeneous traffic scenarios, enrich the theoretical and methodological system for testing intelligent ships, and lay a theoretical and technical foundation for the industrial application of research results on intelligent ships.