Unmanned and Autonomous Systems in Maritime-Port Operations: Technological Development, Operational Applications, and Decision Support

Unmanned and autonomous systems are increasingly investigated in maritime-port operations, but evidence remains fragmented across platforms, applications, and maturity levels. This review combined the PRISMA-based screening of Scopus publications (2010–2026), VOSviewer bibliometric mapping, and structured technical coding. Of 1030 records, 86 studies met the eligibility criteria. Sensing, imaging, and perception were the most represented capabilities, followed by autonomy, navigation, and control. The cross-platform synthesis showed complementarity rather than substitution: platform suitability depends on physical access and task requirements, whereas interoperability, communication continuity, and validation maturity are shared constraints across platform families. Validation coding identified 15 conceptual studies, 14 simulations, 29 controlled experiments, 27 field or port validations, and one documented operational deployment. Decision-support coding identified 19 studies with no explicit contribution, 53 providing information or situational awareness, seven supporting vehicle- or mission-level planning and optimisation, and seven providing recommendations, priorities, allocations, or optimised alternatives for operational or managerial decisions; no coded record explicitly reported a measured improvement in decision outcomes. The evidence therefore supports technological feasibility and information provision more strongly than routine operational readiness or demonstrated improvement in managerial decision outcomes. Future research should prioritise repeated multi-port validation, integration with operational information systems, and comparative evaluation of technology-supported decisions.