Maritime transport underpins global trade, and project logistics (PL) covers the movement of high-value, out-of-gauge cargoes requiring specialised handling and heavy-lift capabilities. The research niche of this article is the absence of a bibliometric mapping of maritime PL, as most maritime logistics studies focus on container and bulk shipping. The purpose of the research was to map the evolution, contributors and dominant themes of maritime PL research. We hypothesised that publication activity has accelerated after 2019 and that the literature is concentrated around a limited number of countries/authors and optimisation-oriented (MCDM) approaches. A bibliometric analysis was performed on Web of Science (WoS) records published between 1945 and 2025. After keyword filtering and PRISMA 2020 screening, 26 documents were retained and analysed in VOSviewer 1.6.20 using performance indicators (TPC, TCC, CPP) and network mapping (co-authorship, co-citation and keyword co-occurrence). The results show a clear increase in publications after 2019; proceeding papers slightly outnumber journal articles; China, Turkey, India and Singapore are the most productive countries, with India and Turkey occupying central positions in the co-authorship network. Keyword analysis indicates that PL research is largely framed through MCDM and optimisation methods. The hypotheses were supported, and the study provides the first quantitative baseline of the field and outlines directions for future empirical research, including potential defence-related applications.