The shipping industry, as a major emitter of greenhouse gases, has increasingly highlighted the urgency of carbon reduction. A series of mandatory policies and regulations on carbon emissions in the international shipping industry have gradually entered into the mandatory implementation stage in order to reduce carbon emissions in the shipping industry. The shipping industry is therefore facing enormous pressure on carbon reduction. The current study reviews and summarizes the shipping carbon emission policies and regulations issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and compares the feasibility and applicability of various carbon reduction technologies in the shipping industry from both policy and technical aspects. The carbon capture technology is a direct and effective technology for the current shipping industry to address the carbon emission regulations. Based on the state-of-art of the carbon capture technology for ship exhaust gas, the challenges faced by the ocean-going ships in using carbon capture technology are analyzed from the technical requirements, operating costs and energy consumption, combined with the operation characteristics and exhaust emission characteristics of the ocean-going ships. The suggestions and measures are provided for appropriate marine carbon capture technology. The development direction of the carbon capture technology for the exhaust emissions of the ocean-going vessels is prospected based on the historical data. This study can provide references for the formulation of the carbon emission policies for China's shipping industry and the development and application of the ship carbon reduction technologies.