Container tracking
Check a container number, then open the shipping line’s own tracking page with the number already in it.
Paste a container number to check it is valid, then open the shipping line’s own tracking page with the number already in it. Works for 14 lines: CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, Maersk, MSC, OOCL, ONE (Ocean Network Express), PIL (Pacific International Lines), Turkon, Wan Hai, Yang Ming and ZIM.
Track a container
One or several, separated by spaces, commas or new lines. Up to 20.
The check uses the ISO 6346 rule that BIC publishes. Tracking happens on the line’s own site: this page does not see your results.
How to read a container number
Every container number has the same eleven characters (BIC’s example: CSQU3054383):
- Owner code: three letters for the owner or principal operator, registered with BIC. Often a leasing company, not the shipping line.
- Category: U for all freight containers, J for detachable freight container equipment, Z for trailers and chassis.
- Serial number: six digits chosen by the owner.
- Check digit: one digit worked out from the ten characters before it. If a single character is mistyped, the check digit almost always stops matching.
How the check digit is worked out: each letter becomes a number from 10 to 38, skipping 11, 22 and 33 (A is 10, B is 12, L is 23, U is 32). Each of the ten characters is multiplied by 1, 2, 4, 8 and so on, doubling. Add them up, divide by 11, and the remainder is the check digit (a remainder of 10 counts as 0).
When tracking says “not found”
- A mistyped character. O and 0, I and 1, B and 8 are the usual ones. The check above catches almost all of them.
- The wrong line. Track with the line on your booking or bill of lading. The owner code on the box often belongs to a leasing company.
- Too early. A line can only show a container once there is an event for it, such as the empty pick-up or the gate-in at the terminal.
- Too late. Some lines only show recent shipments. COSCO’s page, for example, covers ongoing shipments and those completed in the last six months.
If the number is right and the line still has nothing, try the B/L or booking number, or ask whoever booked the shipment.
The lines in this tool
Each link goes to the line’s own tracking page, checked on 31 October 2026. Where the line’s site takes the number in the link, the tool puts it there; where it does not, the tool copies the number so you can paste it.
| Line | Official tracking | Number in the link | B/L or booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMA CGM | cma-cgm.com | No: the tool copies the number for you | On the line’s page |
| COSCO Shipping | elines.coscoshipping.com | Yes: the search runs | Choose the type on its page |
| Evergreen | ct.shipmentlink.com | Yes: the tool sends it to the line’s search | Yes, on its page (booking only for some countries) |
| Hapag-Lloyd | hapag-lloyd.com | No: the tool copies the number for you | On the line’s page |
| HMM | hmm21.com | No: the tool copies the number for you | On the line’s page |
| Maersk | maersk.com | Yes: the search runs | Yes, on its page (a B/L has 9 characters) |
| MSC | msc.com | No: the tool copies the number for you | On the line’s page |
| ONE (Ocean Network Express) | one-line.com | Yes: the search runs | Yes, on its page (B/L: last 12 characters, without ONEY) |
| OOCL | oocl.com | No: the tool copies the number for you | On the line’s page |
| PIL (Pacific International Lines) | pilship.com | Yes: the search runs | Yes, on its page (B/L, booking and P.O.) |
| Turkon | myturkonline.turkon.com | No: the tool copies the number for you | Booking number, on its page |
| Wan Hai | wanhai.com | No: the tool copies the number for you | On the line’s page |
| Yang Ming | yangming.com | Yes: the search runs | Yes, in the same link (up to 20 numbers) |
| ZIM | zim.com | No: the tool copies the number for you | On the line’s page |
Track every container on the file
Checking one box is easy. Keeping every container of every shipment current is the work. In Linbis the container numbers sit on the shipment file with the B/L and the booking, so the whole team and your customer see the same container. For Maersk and CMA CGM, Linbis can update the container status on the file automatically once you add your API key from the carrier in Tracking settings.
| Linbis plan | Published price | Users included |
|---|---|---|
| Startup | $150 per month | 1 |
| Premium | $299 per month | 3 |
| Enterprise | Custom | By quote |
The trial is free and does not ask for a card. Figures from linbis.com/pricing on 31 October 2026.
Questions people ask
How do I track a container?
With the container number and the shipping line. The line is the one on your booking confirmation or bill of lading. Paste the number above, choose the line, and the tool opens the line’s own tracking page.
What do the letters and numbers in a container number mean?
Four letters and seven digits. The first three letters are the owner code, registered with the Bureau International des Containers (BIC). The fourth letter is U for a freight container, J for detachable container equipment and Z for a trailer or chassis. Then a six-digit serial number, and a last digit that checks all the others.
Why does the line’s site say the container is not found?
Most often one character is mistyped, which the check digit above catches. Otherwise: the box is tracked by a different line than you tried (the line on your booking, not the letters on the box); there is no event for the container yet; or the shipment is older than the line shows.
The prefix is not the line’s name. Is that wrong?
No. Many containers belong to leasing companies and carry their owner code, not the shipping line’s. Track it with the line that carries your cargo.
Can I track with a bill of lading or booking number instead?
Most lines also track by bill of lading or booking number on their own page; the table above shows what each line’s page says. In this tool, Yang Ming takes them in the link; for the other lines the tool copies the number and opens the line’s page.
Does this tool store my container numbers?
Only in your own browser, so the list is there next time. Nothing is sent to Linbis. Clear removes it.
Sources
- Bureau International des Containers (BIC), container check digit: the parts of the number, the U, J and Z categories and the check digit, read on 31 October 2026.
- Each shipping line’s own tracking page, linked in the table above, checked on 31 October 2026: opened in a browser, or, where a line’s site blocks automated browsers, from the line’s own published pages. OOCL’s own notice says its old tracking page is discontinued and tracking is on its home page.
What this tool is not. It does not track containers itself and does not store your numbers on a server. A valid check digit means the number is well formed, not that the container exists.