Climate change gained importance in the last two decades, and regulations encourage the maritime industry to decarbonize. More recently, more attention has also been paid to the energy transition. This transition to alternative fuels impacts the consumption, production and transportation of liquid bulk products. The liquid bulk segment is vital as one-third of the total cargo loaded (expressed in million tons) on ships is liquid bulk. The paper provides a market overview and a systematic literature review on liquid bulk and port sustainability related to the liquid bulk sector. The existing literature between 1900 and 2022 is examined. The study shows growth in the number of published papers over this period, and a more substantial increase can be seen from 2005 onwards. The results show that the papers have focused on sustainability since 1995. Only since 2015 has there been an interest in the energy transition in the liquid bulk segment in academic papers. Furthermore, much research focuses on alternative fuel use in the shipping industry. However, little attention is paid to how it affects ports, storage, and cargo transport changes.