Container Tracking API & MCP: Maersk, MSC, COSCO & More

Track containers from Maersk (including Hamburg Süd), MSC, COSCO, Evergreen, ONE and Yang Ming through the same tracking API and MCP tools as parcels, in the same normalized JSON. Carrier inference works where the number identifies the line; leased prefixes such as TGHU and TCNU require explicit carrier selection. Container watches recheck every 6 hours (hourly once a container is out for delivery).

No booking, bill of lading or shipping line account is needed: the container number is enough.

Supported Shipping LinesCopy Anchor Link

Every example below is a real container looked up in November 2026.

1. Container Numbers and Auto-DetectionCopy Anchor Link

A container number (ISO 6346) is the owner's 3-letter code plus U, six digits and a check digit: MSKU 781234 1. lastscanned checks the check digit and sends the number to the line that owns the code, so GET /v1/track/MSKU7812341 goes to Maersk with no ?carrier=.

Leased containers need ?carrier=. About half the world's boxes belong to leasing companies (Textainer TGHU, Triton TCNU and TRHU, CAI CAIU, SeaCo SEGU and others) and sail with any line. Their owner code says nothing about the line, so name it:

curl -s "https://api.lastscanned.com/v1/track/TGHU9123451?carrier=msc" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LASTSCANNED_API_KEY"

Without ?carrier=, a leased container answers 400 unknown_carrier with a message saying to name the line. It is not billed.

2. Statuses for a Container's TripCopy Anchor Link

Containers use the same seven statuses as parcels, mapped onto a container's trip:

The shipping lines don't report when the consignee unloads the goods, so delivered means the empty box is back. Watch for out_for_delivery if you need to know when the cargo left the port.

3. Times, ETAs and Bills of LadingCopy Anchor Link

• Times: most lines give local port time without a zone (MSC and Evergreen give a date only), so localTime is set and timestamp is null. Never read a container's localTime as UTC. ONE is the exception: it gives both, so both are exact.
• ETA: Maersk's, MSC's and ONE's estimated arrival is estimatedDelivery (ONE's also as estimatedDeliveryAt in UTC). Planned moves are never mixed into events.
• Bill of lading or booking: MSC and Evergreen name the bill the container sails under in message; ONE names the booking.

4. Watches and Webhooks for ContainersCopy Anchor Link

A container trip runs for weeks, so polling is wasteful. Set your webhook once, then create a watch per container. lastscanned re-checks it every 6 hours (hourly once it is out for delivery) and posts to your webhook when its status, newest move or ETA changes:

curl -s -X PUT "https://api.lastscanned.com/v1/webhook" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LASTSCANNED_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/hooks/containers"}'

curl -s -X POST "https://api.lastscanned.com/v1/watches" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LASTSCANNED_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"trackingNumber": "MEDU1234562", "metadata": {"po": "PO-1042"}}'

A watch ends by itself when the empty container is returned, or after 90 days. On Pro, a container counts once per billing period however often it is re-checked.

5. Limits Worth KnowingCopy Anchor Link

• COSCO shows a container's latest move only, without the bill of lading. COSCO's firewall also blocks bursts, so a batch of COSCO containers is looked up one at a time.
• Maersk and MSC are read through a browser session (their sites refuse plain server requests), so a lookup takes several seconds. One session serves a whole batch.
• Other lines (CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, ZIM) are not supported yet.

Related ResourcesCopy Anchor Link

• Formats and check digits: Tracking number formats & auto-detection
• Freight by road: LTL freight & heavy parcel tracking
• Agents: MCP server