Nowlun Shipment Tracking – Container Status, Routes & Rates

What does Nowlun Shipment Tracker do?

Nowlun Shipment Tracker tracks ocean container shipments by booking number or bill of lading (B/L). It returns the shipping line, vessel, cargo, ports of loading and discharge, pickup and drop-off, transits, and every tracking update in one structured record. The shipping line is detected automatically when you don't know it.

It runs on the Apify platform, so you can track shipments on a schedule, call it from your ERP or TMS through the API, and send updates to Google Sheets, Slack, email, Zapier or Make.

Why use Nowlun Shipment Tracker?

• One tracker for many carriers: Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC, CMA CGM and other lines, through one input format.
• Automatic carrier detection: just paste the booking or B/L number.
• Structured ports and dates: POL, POD, pickup and drop-off with dates, ready for dashboards.
• Automation: schedule checks and alert your team when a shipment's state changes.
• Freight forwarders and importers: keep customers informed without logging into each carrier site.

How to track a shipment

1. Click Try for free (or Start).
2. Enter the Booking / B/L number.
3. Choose whether it is a booking or bl number.
4. Optionally set the Shipping line (it's detected automatically otherwise).
5. Optionally add your Nowlun account email and password for full access.
6. Click Start and read the result in the Output tab.

Input

Field	Description
Booking / B/L number	The number to track, e.g. MSKU1369452
Selector	booking or bl
Shipping line	Optional; detected automatically if empty
Email / Password	Optional Nowlun account credentials. Some details need a signed-in account.

{
    "booking_number": "MSKU1369452",
    "selector": "bl"
}

Output

You can download the dataset in various formats such as JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel.

{
    "booking_number": "HLCUALY240509398",
    "shipping_line": "Hapag-Lloyd",
    "state": "pending",
    "bl": "",
    "company": "",
    "cargo": "20\"ST x 1",
    "vessel": "",
    "pol": { "port": "Port Said East-Port, Egypt", "date": "" },
    "pod": { "port": "", "date": "" },
    "pickup": { "port": "", "date": "" },
    "dropoff": { "port": "", "date": "" },
    "transits": [],
    "updates": []
}

Data fields

Field	Description
booking_number, bl	Booking and bill of lading numbers
shipping_line	Carrier handling the shipment
state	Current shipment state
company, cargo, vessel	Shipper company, container/cargo description and vessel
pol, pod	Port of loading / discharge, with dates
pickup, dropoff	Empty container pickup and drop-off, with dates
transits	Transshipment points
updates	Tracking events with timestamps and statuses

How many results will I get?

Input	Results
1 booking or B/L number	1 row

Tips

• Daily status checks: schedule the Actor for each open shipment and connect a webhook or Slack integration to get notified about changes.
• Not sure of the carrier? Leave Shipping line empty; it's detected from the number.

More modes: shipment search and cargo rates

This Actor also covers what the former Nowlun Shipment Search and Nowlun Cargo Rates Actors did. Set mode, or leave it empty: a booking_number means track, a date or containers means search, anything else means rates.

Mode	Inputs	Returns
track	booking_number, selector, shipping_line, email, password	Tracking details and status updates for one shipment
search	origin_port / origin_area, destination_port / destination_area, date (dd/mm/yyyy), containers, email, password	Shipping options for the route and date
rates	query (port or city name), optional email / password	Matching ports, areas and shipping options

{ "mode": "rates", "query": "Alexandria" }

Coming from Nowlun Shipment Search or Nowlun Cargo Rates? Use the same input here; the rows are the same.

FAQ

Do I need a Nowlun account? No, but some shipment details are only returned for signed-in accounts. Without credentials, those fields may come back empty or show as unauthorized.

Are my credentials stored? They are used only for the run's sign-in and are not saved to the dataset. Apify input fields can be marked secret in your saved tasks.

Found a bug or need a custom solution? Open an issue in the Issues tab. Custom versions are available on request.

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