Track Sea Cargo by Container number or Bill of Lading

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.

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