Guides
Container tracking guides
Short, practical guides to the references you meet when you ship by sea: container numbers, bills of lading and booking numbers, and how to track each one.
How to track a container
Track a shipping container by container number, bill of lading or booking number: where to find each reference and what every milestone means.
Read the guideWhat is a bill of lading number?
What a bill of lading (BL) number is, master vs house BL, what carrier BL numbers look like, where to find yours and how to track it.
Read the guideContainer number format (ISO 6346)
How a container number is built under ISO 6346: owner code, category, serial number and check digit, with a free check-digit calculator.
Read the guideBooking number vs bill of lading vs container number
Booking number, bill of lading number and container number compared: who issues each, when it exists, what it covers and which one to track.
Read the guide