Track Sea Cargo by Container number or Bill of Lading

Sea cargo tracking Maersk, MSC, COSCO, ONE Line (MOL), CMA CGM, ZIM, Hyundai, Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen, Yang Ming, OOCL, Matson, Turkon Lines

Container, Bill of Lading (B/L) Sea Cargo Tracking

Track your airfreight shipment by airwaybill number. All information is pulled directly from shipping line website and neatly displayed in unified interface on this page.

We use the first 4 letters to automatically send the container number tracking request to the correct shipping line. Click "Track Cargo" to find the status of your sea cargo.

What is container number?

Container number consists of four-letters owner code, six-digits serial number and a check digit. For example, MSKU7803798, CAXU8051672, OOLU7215245. Owner code shows the company that owns the container; it is not necessary the company that does transportation. Checkdigit can be used to identify mistypes in the container number.

Container, B/L tracking

A bill of lading (sometimes abbreviated as B/L or BOL) is a document issued by a carrier (or their agent) to acknowledge receipt of cargo for shipment. Although the term historically related only to carriage by sea, a bill of lading may today be used for any type of carriage of goods.

Just enter your container number, or bill of lading into the cargo tracking form on top of this page and hit "Track Cargo" button.

Maersk Line

Maersk Line is a Danish company, a world leader in container shipping. The headquarters of the company is located in Copenhagen., click here for Maersk Line container tracking.

MSC

Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. (MSC) is a Geneva-based private shipping company, second in the world after A.P. Moller-Maersk - by container ship capacity. Want to know where your MSC container is? Just enter container number on top of this page MSC container tracking.

COSCO

China COSCO Shipping Group or China COSCO Shipping, is a Chinese business conglomerate and state-owned enterprise headquartered in Shanghai, click here for COSCO Shipping container tracking.

ONE

ONE is the global container shipping company headquartered in Singapore and offering an extensive liner network service covering over 100 countries, click here for ONE container tracking.

How to recognize a valid international bill of lading

The table below explains how to recognize a valid BOL for most international shipping companies

Carrier Master BOL Examples
Cosco (CCLU, CSLU, COSU or CBHU) 10 Numbers CBHU8775207, CSLU6034905
Evergreen EGLV(12 Numbers) EGLV313011212345 EGSU3130112
OOCL OOLU(10 Numbers) OOLU1234567890
Matson MATS(10 Numbers) MATS1234567890
Maersk MAEU or MRKU(9 Numbers) MAEU123456789
K-Line KKLU AA(A or 1)(Followed by 6 Numbers) KKLUAAA123456
MSC MSCU or MEDU A(A or 1) (Followed by 6 Numbers) MSCUAA123456
Hapag-Lloyd HLCU AA(A or 1) (Followed by 9 Numbers) HLCUAAA123456789
CMA CGM (CMAU or CMDU) AAA (Followed by 7 Numbers) CMAU6336980, ECMU1992736
Hyundai HMDU AAAA (Followed by 7 Numbers) HMDUAAAA1234567
NYK NYKS AAAA (Followed by 8 Numbers) NYKSAAAA12345678
Yang Ming YMLU(E, B, T or W) (Followed by 9 Numbers) YMLUE123456789
UASC Lines UASUAAAAA (Followed by 6 Numbers) UASUAAAAA123456
ZIM ZIMU or SSPH AAA (Followed by 4-7 Numbers) ZIMUORF0939585, ZIMULAX0140335, ZIMUMER19917579
MOL MOLU (11 Numbers)A MOLU12345678901A, ONEYSZ9HV2360700, ONEYSRGV21720600
Hamburg Süd SUDU55555(7-Alphnumeric) SUDU12345AAAAAAA
APL APLU(Sometimes has a 0) (Followed by 8 Numbers) APLU012345678
Hyundai QSWB ( followed by 7 numbers) QSWB6444089
Hyundai HDMU followed by 4 letters(YNKU) and 7 numbers HDMU YNKY1241556
SM Lines (SMLM) + 4letters + 8 Numbers SMLMNJPE70038700
Turkon Lines TRKU + 6 letters + 6 numbers TRKUMERNYC054228
Maruba MRUB + 6 letters (POLPOD) + 6 numbers (YYNNNN) MRUBBUEHKG180001

What is a Bill of Lading?

The Bill of Lading is a Loading Receipt. The word “lading” is an archaic form of “loading”. The bill of lading started out as a receipt issued when a shipment was loaded onto a vesse

It is still used as a receipt at pickup, handed to the seller as proof that the goods were handed over. It is also a receipt that the shipment was handed over in good condition unless a note to the contrary is made on the BOL at pickup.

The Bill of Lading is a Contract of Carriage. The second role a bill of lading plays is as a shipment contract. The terms and conditions of the forwarder arranging the international transit are included on the bill of lading.

Technically, the contract begins when you accept the forwarder’s freight quote but the Contract of Carriage is evidence of that contract, otherwise, why is the shipment being picked up for international transit?

The Bill of Lading is a Document of Title. The third role a BOL plays is as proof of ownership. Technically, the commercial invoice does that.

The buyer and seller select freight terms when putting the deal together. The Incoterm listed on the commercial invoice sets the point during transit when the goods change hands.

Possession is nine-tenths of the law, and possessing the bill of lading has come to be used as proof of ownership. The seller gets it in their hands at pickup. Later on, the buyer will need it for shipment release.

Bill of Lading Tracking. BOL Tracking

If the master bill of lading number is recorded on the BOL, it can also be used for shipment tracking. Other tracking identifiers, like container numbers, are often recorded on the BOL.

Shipping Line

A shipping line is a business that transports cargo aboard ships.

Containerization revolutionized maritime transport starting in the 1970s. "General cargo" includes goods packaged in boxes, cases, pallets, and barrels. When a cargo is carried in more than one mode, it is intermodal or co-modal.

Container Ships

Container ships (sometimes spelled containerships) are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They are a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport and now carry most seagoing non-bulk cargo.

Container ships are cargo ships that carry their entire load in truck-size containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport. Informally known as "box boats," they carry the majority of the world's dry cargo. Most container ships are propelled by diesel engines, and have crews of between 10 and 30 people. They generally have a large accommodation block at the stern, directly above the engine room.

Container ship capacity is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). Typical loads are a mix of 20-foot and 40-foot (2-TEU) ISO-standard containers, with the latter predominant.

Container ships are distinguished into 7 major size categories: small feeder, feeder, feedermax, Panamax, Post-Panamax, New Panamax and ultra-large.

Container ports

Container traffic through a port is often tracked in terms of twenty foot equivalent units or TEU of throughput. As of 2009, the Port of Singapore was the world's busiest container port, with 25,866,000 TEU handled. That year, six of the busiest ten container ports were in the People's Republic of China, with Shanghai in 2nd place, Port of Hong Kong in 3rd, Shenzhen 4th, Guangzhou 6th, Ningbo 8th, and Qingdao 9th. Rounding out the top ten ports were Busan in South Korea at number 5, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates at number 7, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands in the 10th position with 9,743,290 TEU served.

Shipping industry alliances

In an effort to control costs and maximize capacity utilization on ever larger ships, vessel sharing agreements, co-operative agreements and slot-exchanges and have become a growing feature of the maritime container shipping industry.

  • Ocean Alliance - CMA CGM, COSCO, OOCL, Evergreen
  • THE Alliance - Ocean Network Express, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Yang Ming
  • 2M - Maersk Line, MSC

Companies available for tracking by container number

A

ACL - Atlantic Container Line APL - American President Lines Arkas Container Transport

B

Bahri - National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) Beacon Intermodal Leasing Blue Sky Intermodal Bridgehead Container Services

C

CAI International CARU Containers CCNI - Compania Chilena De Navigacion Interocea CMA CGM CONCOR - Container Corporation of India COSCO - China Ocean Shipping Company CRCT - China Railway Container Transport Corp CSAV - Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores Caravel China Navigation / Swire Shipping Crowley Maritime Corporation

D

DAL - Deutsche Afrika-Linien DHL Dalreftrans Dong Fang International Investment Dong Young Shipping

E

EMC - Evergreen Marine Corp ESL - Emirates Shipping Line Emkay Line

F

FESCO - Far Eastern Shipping Company Fine Link Holdings Flexi-Van Leasing Florens Container Services

G

GSL - Gold Star Line Grieg Star Grimaldi Compagnia Di Navigazione

H

HDS Lines Hamburg Süd
Hanjin Shipping Company Hapag-Lloyd Heung-A Shipping Company Horizon Lines Hugo Stinnes Schiffahrt Hyundai Merchant Marine

I

IACC - International Associated Cargo Carrier ICL - Independent Container Line ISAS Line Indev Italia Marittima

K

K Line / Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha KMTC - Korea Marine Transport Company Kuehne + Nagel

M

MCC Transport Singapore MOL - Mitsui O.S.K. Lines MSC - Mediterranean Shipping Company Maersk Line / A.P.Moller Marfret Compagnie Maritime Matson Maxicon Container Line Meratus Line Messina Lines / Ignazio Messina

N

NSS - Nam Sung Shipping Company NYK Line - Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha Newport Tank Containers NileDutch Nordana Line

O

OOCL - Orient Overseas Container Line

P

PDL - Pacific Direct Line PIL - Pacific International Lines PSL Navegação PT Tanto Intim Line Pan Asia Line Pancon - Pan Continental Shipping Perma Shipping Line Portline

R

RAL - Royal Arctic Line RCL - Regional Container Lines

S

SCI - Shipping Corporation of India SITC Container Lines Company Samskip Samudera Shipping Line Sarjak Container Line Sea Star Line SeaCube Container Leasing Seaboard Marine Seaco Sinokor Merchant Marine Corporation Sinotrans Container Lines St. John Freight Systems Sunmarine Shipping Services

T

TAL International Container Leasing TASS - Trans Asian Shipping Services TSL - T.S. Lines Tarros Textainer Equipment Management Touax / Gold Container Transliner Triton Container International Corporation

U

UASC - United Arab Shipping Company UES International

V

Vasco Maritime

W

WEC Lines WWL - Wallenius Wilhelmsen Wan Hai Lines White Line Shipping

Y

Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation

Z

Zim Integrated Shipping Services

by tisunov