The construction of China′s submarine tunnels is in full swing, and faces many challenges while promoting the development of transportation and science and technology. As a key problem facing submarine tunnel construction, seepage and water gushing are the research focus of many scholars. In recent years, the research on high osmotic pressure rock mass mechanics has yielded fruitful achievements in theory and technology and has been widely employed in the prevention and control of water gushing disasters in submarine tunnels. However, due to the complexity of submarine construction conditions, the evolution process of destabilization and damage of surrounding rocks in submarine tunnels and the water gushing mechanism in complex geological tunnels are still unclear, and the method of predicting the risk of water gushing disasters is still imperfect, which seriously restricts the development of submarine tunnel construction. Therefore, this paper reviewed the research results of high osmotic pressure rock mass mechanics and application cases of submarine tunnel engineering and summarized the research progress in rock masses from microscopic fissure propagation to macroscopic fracture process laws under high osmotic pressure. Moreover, it provided a systematic summary for the influence of geomechanical parameters on the fracturing mechanism of the water barrier layers under high osmotic pressure, the evolution law of permeability damage of fissured rock, the propagation law of fissures of rock masses under the dynamic stress, and the visualization and reconstruction of the propagation process of the seepage fissure field. Meanwhile, the theoretical and technical difficulties facing the construction process of submarine tunnels were introduced, such as high osmotic pressure, complex geology, and multi-field coupling. Additionally, this paper reviewed the application of high osmotic pressure rock mass mechanics in the stability control of surrounding rocks of the submarine tunnels, prevention and control of seepage and water gushing, and the thickness calculation of water barrier layers. Furthermore, the application prospect of high osmotic pressure rock mass mechanics in the risk control of submarine tunnel construction was discussed, thereby providing certain theoretical and practical significance for the prevention and control of water gushing disasters in submarine tunnels and other underwater projects.