As a salient feature of smart ships, autonomous navigation has attracted the increasing attention of industrial and maritime enterprises. To grasp the status and development direction of autonomous navigation, this paper carries out an investigation and review of the relevant key technology by analyzing domestic and foreign state-of-the-art research into autonomous navigation technology over the past three years. Aiming at key technologies such as situational awareness of navigation , cognitive computing, collision avoidance decision-making, navigation control and cyber security, the technical connotations, research status and application situations are analyzed. Considering the current status and technical requirements of key technologies for intelligent navigation, this paper provides the future outlook of situational awareness, cognition, decision-making, control and security for the autonomous navigation of ships.