Blog
Top 10 Most Common Shipping Lines and Their Tracking Codes
When people search online for container numbers with prefixes like MSCU, CMAU, or MAEU, they’re often trying to answer a simple question: Which carrier owns this container?
Shipping line prefixes are the fastest way to identify the company owning that container, and they’re standardized under the BIC (Bureau International des Containers) coding system.
If you know the prefix, you know the carrier. And if you know the carrier, tracking the shipment becomes much easier.
In this article, we will cover the ten shipping lines most commonly searched by prefix.
Types of Common Shipping Lines:
Shipping lines come in several shapes and sizes.
Some are large cargo shipping companies running global container shipping fleets, while others act more like container operators or container owners that lease equipment rather than sail vessels.
There are also sea companies focused on specific regions, private shipping companies with niche routes, and freight service providers offering full door-to-door supply-chain solutions.
All of these groups sit under the wider world of major shipping companies and shipping lines, each playing a different role in how containers move from origin to destination.
Most common shipping lines in the shipping industry:
MSC – Prefix: MSCU
MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) uses the prefix MSCU for most of its containers. It’s one of the most searched codes globally, and often the first one people look up when tracking a shipment.
MSC operates one of the largest fleets in the world and is present on almost every major trade lane.
CMA CGM – Prefix: CMAU
CMA CGM containers carry the CMAU prefix. The line is well known for its global coverage and dense service network across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. “CMAU tracking” is one of the most common search queries in container tracking.
Maersk – Prefix: MAEU
Maersk uses the prefix MAEU. As one of the biggest names in container shipping, Maersk’s prefix is widely recognized and frequently searched by logistics professionals and cargo owners.
Hapag-Lloyd – Prefix: HLCU
Hapag-Lloyd containers normally begin with HLCU. The company is strong in Europe, Latin America, and transatlantic routes. Many customers search HLCU containers due to broad carrier integrations and complex transshipment.
ONE (Ocean Network Express) – Prefix: TGHU / ONEU
ONE inherited multiple prefixes through the merger of NYK, MOL, and K Line. The most common one you’ll see today is TGHU, though ONEU also appears in circulation. These prefixes generate high search volume due to ONE’s large Asia–Europe and transpacific footprint.
Evergreen – Prefix: EGHU
Evergreen uses EGHU as a standard prefix. The green containers are easy to spot and heavily searched, especially for shipments between Asia, the U.S., and Europe.
HMM (Hyundai Merchant Marine) – Prefix: HDMU
HMM containers are marked with HDMU. The line operates on major long-haul routes and is a common prefix encountered in transpacific trades.
Yang Ming – Prefix: YMLU
Yang Ming container numbers begin with YMLU, another popular tracking search due to the line’s strong presence in Asia–Europe and Asia–U.S. lanes.
COSCO / OOCL – Prefix: COSU / OOLU
With COSCO owning OOCL, both carrier families generate large tracking traffic.
- COSU for COSCO
- OOLU for OOCL
These prefixes are common in inter-Asian and long-haul services.
ZIM – Prefix: ZIMU
ZIM containers use ZIMU. The company operates globally but is particularly strong in Mediterranean, transatlantic, and North American trades, making this prefix highly searchable.
What role do these shipping lines play in global trade?
Major cargo shipping lines are central to how global trade actually moves. Their container shipping fleet size determines how much capacity is available worldwide, how often vessels call ports, and how reliably goods flow between regions.
Their global networks also generate the data that modern logistics depends on. Sailing schedules, container events, transshipment updates, and vessel movements all come from these carriers, and platforms like JSONCargo turn this carrier data into usable visibility. In practice, the strength and scale of the major shipping lines make international commerce possible, predictable, and trackable.
Which lines does JSONCargo cover?
SONCargo recognizes all major container prefixes, including MSCU, CMAU, MAEU, HLCU, TGHU, ONEU, EGHU, HDMU, YMLU, COSU, OOLU, ZIMU, and many others.
If the container is in circulation, the system detects it automatically and links it to the correct carrier without any manual lookup.
After identifying the carrier, JSONCargo retrieves status events directly from the relevant sources and converts them into a unified, clean structure.
Every update becomes predictable, timestamped, and compatible with dashboards, ERPs, and TMS platforms. Users who want to see the full list of supported carriers can check the carrier coverage page, and developers integrating tracking into their software can visit the API documentation for implementation details, response formats, and sample queries.
How JSONCargo Transforms Raw Prefixes into Clean, Unified Tracking Data?
Knowing the prefix helps identify the carrier, but it doesn’t give you the actual shipment updates. JSONCargo takes the next step by turning these raw prefixes into real, usable tracking data.
Once a user enters any container number, whether it starts with MSCU, CMAU, MAEU, TGHU, or others, the JSONCargo system:
- Detects the correct carrier automatically
No need to guess or check each shipping line manually.
- Collects status events from multiple carrier sources
Loaded on Vessel, Gate-Out, Discharged, Available for Pickup.
- Normalizes all carrier updates into a single clean format
Instead of ten different versions of the same event, you get one unified structure with proper timestamps and locations.
- Returns fully structured JSON data ready for dashboards, ERPs, and TMS systems
Developers don’t have to scrape carrier portals or decode inconsistent messages.
Frequently Asked Questions About Container Tracking Data:
1. Can I track containers from any shipping line?
The API supports multiple major shipping lines, including MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, and others. You can check the full list of supported carriers in our documentation.
2. Where can I find sailing schedules and ETAs?
Each shipping line publishes sailing schedules and vessel arrival times through its e-services. JSONCargo also detects these events through real status updates after the vessel departs, arrives, or transships.
3. Do container options differ between carriers?
Most carriers use standardized ISO containers. The difference comes from availability, location, and specific equipment types, like reefers or special cargo units.