Abstract: In polar marine environment, composite materials are subjected to wear and impact from broken ice and ice layers, and they are corroded by seawater. In addition, low temperature and wet environment deteriorates the mechanical properties of the materials, and strong ultraviolet rays accelerate the aging of composite laminates. These factors will reduce the properties of the materials and eventually lead to material failure. In this paper, the problems in developing polar routes were introduced. Environmental conditions such as polar temperature, polar ocean atmosphere and seawater composition, sea ice movement and their effects on fiber reinforced composites were described. Combined with the development trend of composite materials for polar marine environment, the failure research of the future materials for polar marine service was prospected. The results show that the failure mechanism of composite materials in polar marine environment is studied under the environmental conditions of extremely cold temperature, ultraviolet irradiation, polar seawater and sea ice movement. However, the systematic research is insufficient, there is a lack of the design of multi-factor coupled simulation accelerated aging tests for the characteristics of polar marine environment, and the quantitative analysis of damage of composite materials in extremely cold environment is insufficient. Further exploration of the failure mechanism of composite materials in polar marine environment is of great significance to avoiding safety risks and economic losses in polar navigation.