Structural steels used in marine applications are subject to severe corrosion damage because of the abundant presence of sea salts and water. Up to now, cathodic protection, thick anticorrosion paint and cladding have been mostly used for marine corrosion protection. However, it is questionable whether these methods can provide long service life, perhaps over 100 years, without any maintenance. This paper provides an overview of state of the art of high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) process that belongs to a family of thermal spraying technologies being used to enhance the surface properties of base materials. The physical, mechanical, erosion-corrosion and wear properties of the HVOF coatings and effects of deposition parameters of the process on the properties of the coatings are investigated.