Although the metallic materials used in marine environment have good mechanical properties and corrosion re-sistance, there are more and more reports on corrosion failure of marine engineering materials in recent years. The work aims to in-troduce the research progress of microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of metallic materials in the marine environment, which has attracted greater attention in recent years based on the corrosion of metallic materials in marine environment. Although the classical corrosion theories can explain some of the MIC phenomena, limitations of these mechanisms are exposed when MIC is becoming a serious concern in real industrial applications. With the progress of research, people have a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding on mechanism of MIC. Researchers have proposed the MIC theory based on bioenergetics and bioelectro-chemistry. This theory introduces the extracellular electron transfer (EET), and explains why and how the microorganism corrodes the metallic materials and has been widely accepted by academic circles. In order to resolve the shortcomings of traditional an-ti-MIC methods, the development of novel antibacterial materials, and environment-friendly bactericides and biocide enhancers might provide new prospects for the prevention and control of MIC.