Container Tracking for MSC, COSCO and ONE

Container Tracking collects shipment status, ports, vessel information, arrival dates and container events from MSC, COSCO and Ocean Network Express (ONE). Submit container numbers, bills of lading or booking references and receive a consistent shipment record for each original input position.

Use the results to monitor an import watchlist, reconcile a freight forwarder's updates, join carrier milestones to purchase orders, or keep a logistics dashboard current. The actor reads the information the carrier currently provides. It does not predict arrival dates, guarantee delivery, or reconstruct historical milestones that the source no longer exposes.

Container Tracking coverage

The supported carriers are MSC, COSCO and ONE. Known container prefixes select the corresponding carrier automatically. For leased equipment, whose owner prefix does not identify the shipping line, automatic mode tries the supported carriers. An explicit carrier hint avoids that ambiguity when you already know who operates the shipment.

A bill of lading can contain several containers. It still produces one shipment row, with a summary for each container and a combined event list carrying each event's container number. Duplicate input numbers retain separate positions. This makes it possible to join the result back to an existing spreadsheet by its original row index.

Package couriers, Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen and other shipping lines are outside this version's coverage. COSCO may expose only recent shipments and may restrict detailed history for visitors who are not a party to the shipment. A missing record does not prove that a container or booking is invalid.

Input

Provide tracking_numbers or its alias trackingNumbers. Both accept an array containing between one and 500 strings. If both names are present, tracking_numbers takes precedence. Numbers are normalized to uppercase with whitespace removed. Empty positions remain visible as diagnostics in a mixed result, and recognized container formats are checked against their ISO 6346 check digit before a carrier lookup.

This input was used in the local validation run:

{"trackingNumbers":["MSCU0203658","CSNU1036292","ONEU0024740","MEDUEZ472303","HELLO"]}

The first three entries are container numbers, the fourth is an MSC bill of lading, and the final entry returned no shipment. These are historical examples taken from actual carrier responses. Their continued availability depends on the carrier's retention policy; replace them with references from your own shipment list for operational use.

The carrier option accepts auto, msc, cosco or one. The number_type option accepts auto, container, bill_of_lading or booking. Select booking explicitly for MSC and COSCO booking references. ONE accepts booking references with or without the ONEY prefix. Set include_events to false when you only need shipment summaries and the latest event. This option returns empty timeline arrays and avoids requesting the full ONE event history.

Output

Each row includes tracking_number, input_index, carrier, number_type, found, status, last_event, origin, destination, loading and discharge ports, eta, ata, vessel information, containers, legs, and events. The source field identifies this product and fetched_at records the retrieval time in UTC. Fields the carrier does not supply are null rather than estimated.

For the recorded MSC container, selected returned fields were:

{"tracking_number":"MSCU0203658","carrier":"msc","found":true,"status":"Empty received at CY","origin":"MELBOURNE, AU","destination":"HONG KONG, HK","eta":null,"events_count":6}

Dates retain their source precision. MSC events contain calendar dates without a time. COSCO timestamps are local times without an offset. ONE event timestamps use the source UTC event field. ONE's latest-event search summary carries local time, so that summary is returned without a UTC suffix when the full event timeline is unavailable or was not requested. Do not assume that every timestamp describes the same time zone.

The event list is sorted from oldest to newest, followed by undated entries. Each entry identifies its container and preserves the source description, location, raw date and available terminal or vessel details. Container summaries do not duplicate the full event array. events_count counts the events actually delivered, so it is zero when timelines were not requested.

Only MSC supplies an explicit delivery flag in the supported responses. COSCO and ONE return delivered: null; a returned empty container or an absent ETA is not converted into an inferred delivery promise. Arrival estimates can disappear after delivery. When a requested detail cannot be collected, the run summary reports partial results and an explanatory warning.

COSCO's bill of lading document status is returned separately as bill_of_lading_status. Shipment status uses the carrier's shipment state or latest event and remains null when neither is available. A document label such as “Sea Waybill” does not describe shipment progress.

Pricing

The actor uses a run-start event and a tracking-result event. A tracking result is one delivered shipment row with found: true, regardless of how many containers or events it contains. Diagnostic positions with found: false do not trigger the tracking-result event. An entirely empty lookup has no result charges; the run-start event still applies. Current event prices are displayed in the actor's Pricing tab.

Non-paying users can submit up to ten input positions per run. This cap counts original positions, including duplicates and empty entries. Paying users can submit up to 500 positions. Separate runs are separate lookups and may return updated source information.

Running larger lists

The actor continues larger lists automatically. Direct API callers can continue using next_cursor and completed_indices while preserving the original input array. Keep both continuation fields together so positions that finished out of order are not fetched again. Warnings describe any requested timeline, voyage information or input positions that could not be completed. If a carrier is temporarily unavailable, retry the affected references later.

FAQ

Can I track parcels or every shipping line?

This version supports ocean shipments from MSC, COSCO and ONE. Parcel tracking and additional ocean carriers require other sources and are outside the supported scope.

Why is ETA null for a shipment that was found?

The carrier may not publish an estimate, may remove it after delivery, or may not provide it for that lookup type. The actor never calculates an ETA from departure time and assumed transit duration.

Why does a bill of lading produce just one row?

The input reference identifies one shipment lookup. Its containers appear in containers, while each returned milestone in events includes container_number. Filter that field to reconstruct a particular container's timeline.

Why are there fewer historical events for COSCO?

The public carrier view can limit shipment history for visitors who are not a party to the shipment. The actor returns the status or voyage information actually provided and does not fill missing history with generated milestones.

Can I use the output in a spreadsheet or database?

Yes. Export the dataset in the formats offered by Apify. Use input_index to join each row to the original list, tracking_number for the normalized reference, and fetched_at to distinguish repeated monitoring runs.