Container Tracking: MSC, Maersk Cargo Updates, Demurrage Alerts

Every container, any carrier, one table — only the changes in your inbox daily.

⚡ First 25 container updates free · 💵 ≈ $0.014 per container update all in, the carrier source lookup included — $0.0037 of it is ours · 🤖 AI ≈ $0.020 all in · ⏱️ demo in seconds

Try it in 30 seconds. Click Try it — the form holds 5 sample containers; the demo runs on any plan. → What a run costs · What the AI adds · Run it weekly

⚡ At a glance

🎯 What this Actor does

• Replaces 15 single-carrier scrapers — one list, any carrier, routed by its prefix (MSCU… → MSC).
• One milestone format — DCSA codes (LOAD, DEPA, ARRI, DISC …), one status, the ETA in port time and UTC.
• Demurrage in dollars — the last free day, the box first 3 days before it, the money at risk in the digest.
• Only changes, fewer paid lookups — unchanged containers and typos (ISO 6346 check digit) are free; finished and far-off boxes are looked up less.

🚢 Multi carrier container tracking and bill of lading tracking

A container is routed by its owner code, a B/L by its prefix (MEDU…); a booking needs the carrier (254839107, Maersk, PO-4411, 5); a pasted e-mail works too.

⏰ Container status alerts — the ETA slip in days

etaSlipDays = days the ETA moved since the last run (+ = later); ≥ 1 day sets eta_slipped / eta_earlier and ranks the row first.

💰 Demurrage alerts — the last free day and the money at risk

freeTimeDays: discharge day + free days = lastFreeDay; dd_risk 3 days before it. demurrageAtRiskUsd = (days past it + 3) × demurrageRatePerDay ($150); the digest opens with "≈ $1,350 of demurrage at risk — 3 boxes".

🚀 How to use it

1. Click Try it — the free demo: 5 sample containers from 4 carriers and one typo.
2. Paste your numbers (or link your Google Sheet) — they replace the sample and start the live lookup on your Apify account, capped by "Max source spend". Leave "AI assessment" on.
3. Press Start — demurrage risks, ETA slips and discharges come first. Export, or wire a webhook.
4. Schedule it daily with notifyEmail — only containers that changed are delivered and charged.

📚 Learn more: Tutorial — track containers from any carrier with this Actor

🚢 Track by carrier, one table

MSC cargo tracking

MSCU, MEDU containers and B/Ls.

Maersk tracking

Maersk, Sealand, Hamburg Süd (MAEU, MSKU, SUDU) in DCSA codes.

CMA CGM, COSCO, OOCL and Wan Hai container tracking

CMA CGM's DCSA events as they are; COSCO, OOCL and Wan Hai in beta — free here, the lookup still ≈ $0.01 on your account.

🆚 Why this instead of running each carrier scraper yourself?

How that compares — the lookups are the same $0.01 either way; here you add $0.0037 per update that changed, and one replaces ≈ 1 raw lookup row you would read by hand: $0.0037 per raw-row equivalent.

vs other container tracking Actors and free tools

💵 Pricing — what a run really costs

Never charged here: invalid numbers, unknown carriers, failed lookups, unchanged containers, beta-carrier rows (free here; their lookup still bills your account), rows below minScore, your exclude list. The lookups are not ours to waive: each carrier's Actor bills your account $0.01 a result ($0.004 ONE, Wan Hai) + $0.001 per run, capped by maxDiscoveryChargeUsd.

Worked example — 40 containers on 4 carriers, AI on, first run: lookups 40 × $0.01 + 4 × $0.001 = $0.40 on your account + 40 × $0.0092 + 40 × $0.0011 tokens = $0.82, ≈ $0.020 per container update ($0.59 with your first 25 free). Daily after that, ≈ 6 move and ≈ 20 are looked up (smart polling): $0.20 lookups + 6 × $0.0092 + 6 × $0.0011 tokens = $0.26 a day; rules $0.22.

At volume — a forwarder, 300 containers weekly, ≈ 75 % moving: $3.00 lookups + 225 × $0.0037 = $3.83 a week rules only (≈ $17 a month); AI on: $3.00 + 225 × $0.0092 + 225 × $0.0011 tokens = $5.32.

AI tier, all in: $0.0092 + ≈ $0.0011 tokens (1,961 input + 214 output per update, gemini-3.5-flash-lite at OpenRouter's rates, measured 2026-10-24) ≈ $0.010 per container update — 2.8× the basic price; ≈ $0.020 all in with the lookup.

🤖 What the AI tier adds

The same container update, AI off:

{"trackingNumber": "MSCU7421055", "status": "DISCHARGED", "lastFreeDay": "2026-10-26", "flags": ["dd_risk", "arrived", "milestone_changed"], "recommendedNextStep": "Book the pickup at ROTTERDAM, NL (NLRTM) before 2026-10-26, or ask MSC for a free-time extension today."}

AI on (qualified-container-update-ai, $0.0092) — the own-key AI run of the sample (INPUT.ai.json), 2026-10-24:

{
  "trackingNumber": "MSCU7421055", "status": "DISCHARGED", "lastFreeDay": "2026-10-26", "score": 95,
  "assessedBy": "ai", "aiModel": "google:gemini-3.5-flash-lite",
  "scoreReasons": ["status is DISCHARGED at NLRTM", "ddRisk is true with lastFreeDay on 2026-10-26", "milestone is DISC on 2026-10-22"],
  "generatedText": "Request free-time extension or urgent pickup slot for MSCU7421055 at ROTTERDAM, NL before last free day 2026-10-26."
}

The AI writes the extension / pickup request for a box at demurrage risk — one avoided $150 day pays for ≈ 16,000 AI updates — and reads the events ("Vessel skipped the Singapore call" → "a risk of a missed connection"). It saves ≈ 3 min each on 4 sample containers — read by hand vs the AI rows, 2026-10-24.

How much AI do I get on my plan? AI on every update with Apify's model access (Starter and up) or a paid own key; a free Gemini key (aistudio.google.com/apikey) gives 1–3 AI verdicts per run; else the demo shows sample verdicts.

⚙️ Input

Also in the Input tab: pollPolicy (smart), itemsList, datasetId, goalDescription, etaSlipAlertDays (1), the AI model and key, suppressionList, dedupeAcrossRuns, includeEvents, sendAlertsTo; allowList, dedupeTtlDays, webhookSecret, API-only fields and every flag (etaSlipped works too) in the API reference (Integrations).

📤 Output

One item per new or changed container:

{
  "url": "https://www.maersk.com/tracking/MSKU6104820", "itemId": "maersk:MSKU6104820",
  "shipmentKey": "maersk:MSKU6104820:2026-10-05", "dedupeKey": "maersk:MSKU6104820:38b303d007",
  "carrier": "Maersk", "status": "IN_TRANSIT", "milestone": "DEPA", "eta": "2026-11-02T06:00:00", "etaUtcOffset": "+00:00",
  "etaUtc": "2026-11-02T06:00:00Z", "etaSlipDays": 3, "changeType": "eta", "score": 90, "unverifiedCarrier": false,
  "note": "MSKU6104820 (Maersk) — in transit; last event: vessel departed (export) at MYTPP on 2026-10-06; ETA FELIXSTOWE, GB (GBFXT) 2026-11-02, 3 days later than at the last check."
}

eta = local time at the port; etaUtc for comparisons (the port's time zone by UN/LOCODE). More fields: name, numberType, carrierScac, routedBy, milestoneDescription, milestoneLocation, milestoneTime, milestoneIsActual, daysToLastFreeDay, demurrageAtRiskUsd, problem, problemDetail, sourceActor, targetFlagsMatched, label, chargedEvent, billedAs, checkedAt.

Upsert key: shipmentKey (a reused box on its next voyage gets a new key, changeType: new_shipment); itemId = the box. Sort by score; threshold and trend across runs on ruleScore (fitScore = the AI's). OUTPUT holds the run record (trackingSummary, pollSkipped, numbersExtracted); a DIGEST and a forwardable REPORT sit next to it. Views: Shortlist,

Morning table

⭐ Found it useful? A review on the Store helps others find it — it takes a minute on the Actor's page.

🔁 Run it weekly

1. Open the saved task and click Schedule after your first real run (OUTPUT.scheduleTaskUrl); notifyEmail e-mails the digest of every run with changes.
2. Leave Only changes on — an unchanged container is free. Tracking for clients? Save one task per client: its numbers, clientName + brandName (the REPORT and digest carry both) and its own monitorStoreName.
3. Your list stays in your Google Sheet (numbersSheetUrl) and the results come back into it: the Apps Script writes status, ETA, last free day and the note next to each number.
4. Send alerts to: a Slack, Teams or Telegram link gets the digest; webhookUrl the rows — start from the tracker sheet. historyDatasetName keeps the log across months.

It renews by itself: ≈ 15 % of containers move a day. 40 containers weekly, ≈ 30 moving: $0.40 lookups + 30 × $0.0092 + 30 × $0.0011 tokens ≈ $0.71 a week with the AI, $0.51 rules only.

🎯 Try it for your niche

Pick one in Start from a ready set-up (preset) and press Start.

🔌 Container tracking API for any carrier, integrations

Tested calls and the full item: API reference; OUTPUT.mode says what ran (demo, live, list, dataset).

• Webhook — webhookUrl POSTs {"event": "container_update.qualified", "container_update": {…}, "runId": "…"} per update; webhookBatchSize > 1 sends {"event": "container_updates.qualified", "container_updates": [{…}, …], "runId": "…"}; a 429 / 5xx is retried once, a failed POST is re-sent next run (never charged again) and never fails the run.
• Which delivery field wins — every URL is posted once; a per-service field (API-only) wins for its service; webhookUrl gets the rows, the others the digest.
• Google Sheets / HubSpot / Pipedrive — a Make / Zapier "create or update" step: record = reference + trackingNumber + carrier, note = note + recommendedNextStep, upsert on shipmentKey (dedupeKey = one update).
• Bill of lading tracking API — a B/L in trackingNumbers returns every box on it, shipmentKey = that B/L.

MCP: {"mcpServers": {"apify": {"url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?actors=rich_minds/multi-carrier-tracking-ai"}}}. Minimal agent input — the memory off, so the same question asked twice answers both times:

{"sourceMode": "live", "trackingNumbers": ["MSCU0203658", "MAEU3402103"], "enableAi": false, "dedupeAcrossRuns": false, "maxDiscoveryChargeUsd": 0.1}

Any plan, your own rows: {"sourceMode": "list", "itemsList": [{"trackingNumber": "MSCU0203658", "events": [...]}]} · demo {}.

👥 Who is it for?

🧠 How the AI works

• Grounded. The model sees one container's row and only the DCSA codes; a note naming a fact the row does not hold is dropped for the template one, as is a failed call.
• The model. google/gemini-3.5-flash-lite through Apify's model access (not measured on the platform yet); google:gemini-3.5-flash-lite with your own key (measured 2.7–12.2 s and 214 output tokens per update).

🔒 Data, compliance and limits

• Public tracking data only, no login. Some carriers show no ETA (no_eta) or vessel.
• Beta carriers: mapped from their Actors' documented fields until real rows are captured (

  unverifiedCarrier: true
  ) — free here, the carrier lookup still ≈ $0.01 on your account. No vessel position (AIS) yet.

❓ FAQ

How much will one run cost me? The lookups ($0.01 a container, + $0.001 per carrier) plus $0.0037 per update here — 40 containers, lookups included: $0.55 rules only, $0.82 in all AI on.

Is this an alternative to the carriers' own tracking pages or track-trace.com? They are free and authoritative — use them for one number; for 20+ containers they lack one table, an API and change alerts.

Already using the Maersk tracking scraper or the MSC one? Paste the same numbers — or read its last dataset.

Where is my container — for every carrier at once? Yes: one row per box with its last milestone, place and ETA.

Which Apify plan do I need? Any plan: the demo and your own results; live lookups and the e-mail digest: a plan that runs Store Actors.

🧩 More Actors from the same developer

• OFAC Sanctions Screening — Screen every consignee with one clear / review / block verdict before you ship.

🆘 Support

A carrier field or status missing? Open an issue on the Actor's page — buyer requests ship first.

📝 Changelog

• 0.1.4 (2026-10-24) — The form now shows what a run really costs: at most $0.92 here + ≈ $0.11 of AI tokens + your $0.50 lookup cap at the defaults, and beta carriers say plainly that their lookup still costs ≈ $0.01 on ….
• 0.1.3 (2026-10-24) — the page says plainly how much AI you get on your plan; the measured own-key speed.
• 0.1.2 (2026-10-24) — demurrage alerts, shipmentKey, smart polling, e-mail and Google Sheet input.
• 0.1.1 (2026-10-24) — initial release: 15 carriers, one DCSA-style format, change-only monitor.

Coming next: 2026-10-31 — AI without model access or a key · 2026-11-07 — real rows for every beta carrier, the Maersk DCSA API · 2026-11-14 — monitoring and demurrage-alert events.