With the constant development of the national Infrastructure construction, the focus of the civil industry has been shifting to the detection and maintenance of existing structures. Many bridges have been in service for a long time with the increased traffic volumes. So regular detection is required to ensure the safe operation of those structures. The multifunctional underwater vehicles equipped with cameras, sonars, and other attachments have paid great attention to underwater operations. Also, that provides a critical idea and method for detecting underwater bridge structures. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) in detecting underwater bridge structures, then expounds on typical application scenarios and examples. Furthermore, considering that the weak anti-current of ROV is the main restriction of its popularization and application, the research on how to improve the anti-current of ROV is discussed in detail based on the kinematic force analysis. Finally, the critical guidance of ROV anti-current technologies is concluded, and the research interests of the high-stability ROV have been prospected.