# CMA CGM Container Tracking

Source: https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-tracking/ · CC BY 4.0 · checked 2026-08-03

CMA CGM’s tracker at cma-cgm.com/ebusiness/tracking is one of the few that draws your container’s position on a map, but it refuses pre-filled links — the page sits behind bot protection, so open it in a normal browser and paste the number by hand. It accepts container, [bill of lading](https://contsize.com/glossary/bill-of-lading/) and [booking numbers](https://contsize.com/glossary/booking-number/) in one field. Because CMA CGM is a multi-brand group, its fleet spans seven registered prefixes: the house codes CMAU, CGMU and ECMU, the ex-APL trio APZU, APLU and APHU, and CNCU for the intra-Asia CNC brand. Bills of lading start with CMDU.

## Track a CMA CGM container by number

The world’s third-largest carrier (Alphaliner, read 18 October 2026) tracks every brand in its group through a single search box — a convenience that confuses people when the box on the truck says APL and the paperwork says CMA CGM. Both belong to the same Marseille-based group, and both resolve on the same tracker.

Run your number through the validator first: with seven prefixes across three brand families, CMA CGM shipments produce more “is this even the right carrier?” moments than most.

CMA CGM containers carry the prefixes CMAU, CGMU, ECMU, APZU, APLU, APHU and CNCU; each is worked through, with its check digit and where the code came from, on the prefix page of [CMA CGM](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/).

## CMA CGM prefixes: three brands, seven codes

Seven owner codes trace the group’s structure rather than one company’s history. **CMAU**, **CGMU** and **ECMU** are the core CMA CGM codes; **APZU**, **APLU** and **APHU** arrived with APL, the American line CMA CGM acquired and kept as a distinct brand; **CNCU** belongs to CNC, the group’s intra-Asia arm. All seven are registered under [ISO 6346](https://contsize.com/iso-container-standards/) and every one of them tracks on cma-cgm.com.

A box stencilled APL sailing under a CMA CGM booking is therefore not a data error — it is the group’s own equipment pool at work, shuffled between brands as capacity demands.

*CMA CGM: verified container prefixes*

| Prefix | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| [`CMAU`](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#cmau) | A house code of CMA CGM, registered to it directly. |
| [`CGMU`](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#cgmu) | A house code of CMA CGM, registered to it directly. |
| [`ECMU`](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#ecmu) | A house code of CMA CGM, registered to it directly. |
| [`APZU`](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#apzu) | APZU is APL heritage — American President Lines, part of CMA CGM since 2016. |
| [`APLU`](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#aplu) | APLU carries the APL brand name itself; the boxes answer to CMA CGM’s tracker today. |
| [`APHU`](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#aphu) | APHU is the third APL-era code still circulating inside the CMA CGM pool. |
| [`CNCU`](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#cncu) | CNCU belongs to CNC, CMA CGM’s intra-Asia brand (formerly Cheng Lie Navigation). |

Data: [BIC Container Prefix Register](https://contsize.com/citations/#bic-register) · [ISO 6346 (1995 text, read in IS 6928:2001)](https://contsize.com/citations/#iso-6346)

![The 7 BIC owner codes registered to CMA CGM — CMAU, CGMU, ECMU, APZU, APLU, APHU, CNCU — shown as door plates.](https://contsize.com/figures/cma-cgm-container-prefixes-en.png)

*CMA CGM container prefixes, and a number that uses one*

## CMA CGM B/L numbers: the CMDU prefix

Paperwork from CMA CGM starts with **CMDU** — a [SCAC](https://contsize.com/glossary/scac/) that deliberately differs from every container prefix, which is why searching a CMDU number in a container-only tool fails. On the official tracker the same field takes CMDU bills of lading, booking references and container numbers, and the B/L view is the better choice for multi-container shipments because it lists every box under the document.

## Using the cma-cgm.com tracker

Two things stand out from our browser tests. First, results include a live map with the vessel’s position — a visual most rivals reserve for paid platforms. Second, URL parameters are stripped before the page loads, so nobody can hand you a link that opens your result directly; the bot wall also means the page may challenge automated browsers, so use an ordinary one. The CMA CGM app (iOS/Android) carries the same events with push notifications.

*What the official tracker accepts*

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Container number | ✓ yes |
| Bill of lading (B/L) | ✓ yes |
| Booking reference | ✓ yes |
| Mobile app | ✓ yes |
| Pre-filled link | not tried yet |
| Its bill of lading starts with | `CMDU` |

Browser-verified 2026-08-03

## 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 CMA CGM 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](https://contsize.com/glossary/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](https://contsize.com/glossary/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.

Data: [DCSA Track & Trace standard](https://contsize.com/citations/#dcsa)

## CMA CGM transit times, as published

How long a container spends at sea on CMA CGM services, port to port. Each figure below is stated by two documents for the same service and the same pair of ports — the line’s own schedule and one more — and both are linked beside it. Where we could not find two, the pair is not listed.

*CMA CGM: published port-to-port transit times*

| Service | From → to | At sea | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ocean Rise ExpressAsia – North Europe | Yantian → RotterdamThe second source repeats the line’s launch notice rather than measuring the voyage; neither says whether it goes by Suez or the Cape. | 32 days | [CMA CGM](https://contsize.com/citations/#cma-cgm-ocr-2026)[Container News](https://contsize.com/citations/#container-news-ocr-2026) |

Sources read 2026-10-18

Data: [CMA CGM — Ocean Rise Express, 2026-02-27](https://contsize.com/citations/#cma-cgm-ocr-2026) · [Container News — Ocean Rise Express, 2026-02-27](https://contsize.com/citations/#container-news-ocr-2026)

These are schedule figures between two ports, not delivery times: add the days before the vessel sails and after it discharges, and expect the real voyage to drift by a few days either way. A line can change a rotation at any time, so check the date on each source.

## If your document says APL or CNC, you are still on the right page

CMA CGM kept its acquisitions as live brands rather than folding them into one name, so the paperwork in your hand may say APL, CNC or ANL while the booking sits in CMA CGM systems. People who meet that for the first time go looking for an APL tracking page, find a brand site with no working search, and conclude their number is wrong.

It is not. The group runs one tracking back end: cma-cgm.com takes the number whichever brand issued the document, and the APL-registered prefixes — APZU, APLU and APHU — resolve there alongside CMAU, CGMU, ECMU and CNCU. If a brand site offers you its own search, it is a front end onto the same data.

## When cma-cgm.com returns nothing

**Make sure the page actually loaded.** CMA CGM runs heavy bot protection, and an automated or hardened browser can be challenged before the search ever runs. An empty result and a blocked page look similar; open the tracker in an ordinary browser session first.

**Check the number.** Seven prefixes across three brands make a misread first letter more likely here than at a line with two codes. The checker here recomputes the check digit and will name the character that does not fit.

**Try the document instead of the box.** A CMDU bill of lading lists every container under the shipment, so when one box returns nothing the B/L view usually shows whether the booking exists at all — which separates a typo from a shipment that has not started.

**Too new, or archived.** The first event appears at gate-in or loading rather than at booking, and completed shipments drop out of the live system after some weeks.

Carrier profile

## CMA CGM at a glance

- **World fleet rank**: #3by capacity · Alphaliner, read 18 October 2026
- **Founded**: 197848 years in business
- **Container prefixes**: 7verified against the BIC register
- **Alliance**: Ocean Alliancewith 3 partner lines

### The company

- **Headquarters**: Marseille, France
- **Alliance partners**: [COSCO Shipping Lines](https://contsize.com/cosco-container-tracking/) · [OOCL](https://contsize.com/oocl-container-tracking/) · [Evergreen](https://contsize.com/evergreen-container-tracking/)They share ships, not trackers: search on the site of the line that issued your document.
- **Mobile app**: Yes, published by the line

### On your paperwork

- **Owner codes on the container door**: [CMAU](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#cmau)[CGMU](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#cgmu)[ECMU](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#ecmu)[APZU](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#apzu)[APLU](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#aplu)[APHU](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#aphu)[CNCU](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-prefixes/#cncu)The first four letters of the container number.
- **Bill of lading numbers start with**: CMDUCMDU is a document code, not a container prefix.
- **Official tracking site**: [cma-cgm.com](https://www.cma-cgm.com/ebusiness/tracking)Free, no account needed.

Founded in Marseille in 1978 and still family-controlled, CMA CGM anchors the Ocean Alliance alongside [COSCO](https://contsize.com/cosco-container-tracking/), [OOCL](https://contsize.com/oocl-container-tracking/) and [Evergreen](https://contsize.com/evergreen-container-tracking/) — a pact the members have extended through 2032, the longest commitment in container shipping.

Data: [Alphaliner Top 100](https://contsize.com/citations/#alphaliner) · [BIC Container Prefix Register](https://contsize.com/citations/#bic-register)

Checked 2026-08-03

## Frequently asked questions

**Why does my CMA CGM container say APL on the door?**

APL is a brand within the CMA CGM group, and its APZU, APLU and APHU boxes circulate freely in the group fleet. The number tracks normally at cma-cgm.com regardless of which logo is painted on.

**What is a CNCU container?**

CNCU is registered to CNC, CMA CGM’s intra-Asia carrier. It validates as a group prefix in our checker and appears mostly on short regional legs feeding the deep-sea network.

**Can I open my CMA CGM tracking result from a shared link?**

No — we verified that the tracker discards anything appended to the URL and presents an empty search behind its bot check. Paste the number manually in a regular browser.

**Does CMA CGM tracking show the ship on a map?**

Yes — the result page plots the current vessel position alongside the event timeline — one of the few official trackers among the majors to do so without a paid account.

**Why doesn’t my CMDU bill of lading start with CMAU?**

CMDU is the documentation code, CMAU an equipment code — different registries, same company. Enter the CMDU number in the tracker’s single search field and it resolves as a shipment.

**Which alliance covers my CMA CGM sailing?**

CMA CGM sails in the Ocean Alliance with COSCO, OOCL and Evergreen, extended through 2032. On alliance loops your box may physically ride a partner’s vessel while tracking stays on cma-cgm.com.

## Related pages

- [Container trackingCheck the digit → name the owner → open the tracker](https://contsize.com/container-tracking/)
- [COSCO tracking](https://contsize.com/cosco-container-tracking/)
- [Evergreen tracking](https://contsize.com/evergreen-container-tracking/)
- [ISO container standardsISO 668 · ISO 6346 · CSC](https://contsize.com/iso-container-standards/)
- [Carrier tracker study 2026Original research · tested in a browser · open data](https://contsize.com/container-tracker-study/)
- [Container glossaryThe vocabulary of the box](https://contsize.com/container-glossary/)