3 prefixes · leasing company
CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital) container prefixes: CAIU, BEAU, BMOU
CAIU, BEAU and BMOU are registered to CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital), a container leasing company. CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital) owns the box and does not carry it: track it with the shipping line named on your booking or bill of lading, because that line holds the record of where it is. The check digit is worked out below for each prefix.
CAI International, now owned by Mitsubishi HC Capital, leases a diversified box fleet and folded in Beacon Intermodal’s containers after the 2023 merger.
Three codes mark CAI equipment — one original and two carried over from Beacon.
4 letters + 7 digits, printed on the doors. It is on your bill of lading too.
The answer appears as you type. Nothing is sent anywhere.
All 3 CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital) prefixes
| Prefix | A valid number | Check digit | Where the code comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
CAIU | CAIU 156868-2 | 2 | — |
BEAU | BEAU 987327-1 | 1 | BEAU came from Beacon Intermodal, merged into CAI in 2023. |
BMOU | BMOU 565761-7 | 7 | BMOU is the second Beacon Intermodal code now under CAI’s roof. |
Prefix register verified against two independent sources on 2026-08-03. The example numbers are computed to show the arithmetic. They are valid by construction, not numbers we saw on a box.
Data: BIC Container Prefix Register · ISO 6346:2022
CAIU: check digit, worked through
CAIU is registered to CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital). Take CAIU 156868-2: each of its first ten characters has a value and a weight, the products are added, and the remainder after dividing by 11 is the check digit — here 2.
| Character | Value | Weight | Product |
|---|---|---|---|
C | 13 | ×1 | 13 |
A | 10 | ×2 | 20 |
I | 19 | ×4 | 76 |
U | 32 | ×8 | 256 |
1 | 1 | ×16 | 16 |
5 | 5 | ×32 | 160 |
6 | 6 | ×64 | 384 |
8 | 8 | ×128 | 1024 |
6 | 6 | ×256 | 1536 |
8 | 8 | ×512 | 4096 |
Sum 7581 → 7581 mod 11 = 2 → check digit 2 → CAIU 156868-2
BEAU: check digit, worked through
BEAU is registered to CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital). Take BEAU 987327-1: each of its first ten characters has a value and a weight, the products are added, and the remainder after dividing by 11 is the check digit — here 1.
BEAU came from Beacon Intermodal, merged into CAI in 2023.
| Character | Value | Weight | Product |
|---|---|---|---|
B | 12 | ×1 | 12 |
E | 15 | ×2 | 30 |
A | 10 | ×4 | 40 |
U | 32 | ×8 | 256 |
9 | 9 | ×16 | 144 |
8 | 8 | ×32 | 256 |
7 | 7 | ×64 | 448 |
3 | 3 | ×128 | 384 |
2 | 2 | ×256 | 512 |
7 | 7 | ×512 | 3584 |
Sum 5666 → 5666 mod 11 = 1 → check digit 1 → BEAU 987327-1
BMOU: check digit, worked through
BMOU is registered to CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital). Take BMOU 565761-7: each of its first ten characters has a value and a weight, the products are added, and the remainder after dividing by 11 is the check digit — here 7.
BMOU is the second Beacon Intermodal code now under CAI’s roof.
| Character | Value | Weight | Product |
|---|---|---|---|
B | 12 | ×1 | 12 |
M | 24 | ×2 | 48 |
O | 26 | ×4 | 104 |
U | 32 | ×8 | 256 |
5 | 5 | ×16 | 80 |
6 | 6 | ×32 | 192 |
5 | 5 | ×64 | 320 |
7 | 7 | ×128 | 896 |
6 | 6 | ×256 | 1536 |
1 | 1 | ×512 | 512 |
Sum 3956 → 3956 mod 11 = 7 → check digit 7 → BMOU 565761-7
Owner and operator: who tracks a CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital) box
CAI equipment carries no tracking of its own; the operating line named in your booking holds the milestones.
Can you see where the ship is?
Not from the container. A standard dry box has no power, no radio and no satellite receiver — it is a steel case with a number painted on it, and it reports nothing about itself. Every position you see against a CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital) shipment was reported by something else: a terminal crane, a gate reader, or the ship.
A live map on a carrier’s tracking page is almost always plotting AIS, the transponder every large vessel broadcasts with its position, course and speed. That is genuinely useful at sea: it is a real position rather than a schedule, and an ETA recalculated from actual movement. It is also the ship’s position, not your box’s, and the two part company the moment the container is discharged.
On land the map goes quiet. Between the gate-out and the delivery there is no vessel to follow, and the road leg appears only as whatever events the terminal and the trucker report. A container sitting on a chassis in a yard shows the last position of a ship it left days ago. Only specialised IoT equipment reports its own location, and wherever that exists it is a paid product sold to the shipper, not something a tracking page gives away.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns CAIU, BEAU and BMOU containers?
CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital) does, a container leasing company — the BIC register lists 3 owner prefixes under it: CAIU, BEAU and BMOU, and the boxes sail in other lines' fleets.
How do I track a CAIU container?
Not with CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital) — a CAIU box is leased, so the record of its journey is with the shipping line named on your booking confirmation or bill of lading. Open that line's tracker and paste the number there.
Why does CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital) have 3 prefixes?
Because one prefix holds only a million serial numbers, and a lessor that merges with another keeps the codes already painted on the boxes. All 3 belong to the same company.
Is CAIU a shipping line prefix or a leasing prefix?
A leasing prefix — CAI (Mitsubishi HC Capital) owns the steel box while a shipping line operates it, which is why the owner and the tracker are different companies.
Is CAIU1568682 a valid container number?
Yes — CAIU 156868-2 passes the ISO 6346 check: the weighted sum for CAIU156868 leaves a remainder of 2 when divided by 11, which gives check digit 2. It is an example computed for this page, not a box we have seen.
One page, every owner code
Know whose box it is before you search
All 85 owner prefixes mapped to their line or leasing company, with the leased ones marked — so you can tell at a glance when to track with the line instead. Container dimensions are on page two.
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