# Maersk Container Tracking

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

Maersk is one of only three major lines whose tracker accepts a direct link with the container number in it: maersk.com/tracking/MSKU3077038 opens the result straight away. Validate your number below and the button will carry it over. Maersk boxes wear eight prefixes — MAEU, MRKU, MSKU, MRSU plus the merger heritage codes SEAU (Sealand), SUDU (Hamburg Süd), PONU (P&O Nedlloyd) and MNBU (reefers) — and all of them, plus [bill of lading](https://contsize.com/glossary/bill-of-lading/) and [booking numbers](https://contsize.com/glossary/booking-number/), resolve in the same search box.

## Track a Maersk container by number

Maersk’s tracker is the most linkable in the industry — the number rides in the URL, so a bookmark or a shared link reopens your shipment’s live status. That’s the fastest path from “where is my box” to an answer, and the checker here builds that link for you after validating the digit math.

The prefix story is where Maersk differs from everyone: a century of acquisitions means perfectly current Maersk containers carry the names of companies that no longer exist.

Maersk containers carry the prefixes MAEU, MRKU, MSKU, PONU, SEAU, MNBU, MRSU and SUDU; each is worked through, with its check digit and where the code came from, on the prefix page of [Maersk](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/).

## Maersk prefixes: MSKU, MAEU and the merger heritage

Eight owner codes are registered to Maersk A/S today. Four are house codes (MAEU, MRKU, MSKU, MRSU); four tell acquisition history: **SEAU** came with Sealand, **PONU** with P&O Nedlloyd (2005), **SUDU** with Hamburg Süd (2017), and **MNBU** marks the refrigerated fleet. A red Hamburg Süd box with SUDU on the door is a Maersk container in every system that matters.

That heritage regularly confuses prefix lists elsewhere — several sites still file SUDU under a company that ceased to exist as a brand in 2023. The BIC register, and therefore our checker, resolves all eight to Maersk.

*Maersk: verified container prefixes*

| Prefix | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| [`MAEU`](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#maeu) | A house code of Maersk, registered to it directly. |
| [`MRKU`](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#mrku) | A house code of Maersk, registered to it directly. |
| [`MSKU`](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#msku) | A house code of Maersk, registered to it directly. |
| [`PONU`](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#ponu) | PONU is the P&O Nedlloyd legacy code, in Maersk hands since the 2005 takeover. |
| [`SEAU`](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#seau) | SEAU is Sealand heritage — the code of the company that invented container shipping in 1956, kept alive in the register after Maersk absorbed Sealand. |
| [`MNBU`](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#mnbu) | MNBU is reserved for Maersk’s reefer fleet — spot it and you are almost certainly looking at a refrigerated box. |
| [`MRSU`](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#mrsu) | A house code of Maersk, registered to it directly. |
| [`SUDU`](https://contsize.com/sudu-container/) | SUDU comes from Hamburg Süd, the German line Maersk bought in 2017; the red boxes kept their code. |

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 8 BIC owner codes registered to Maersk — MAEU, MRKU, MSKU, PONU, SEAU, MNBU, MRSU, SUDU — shown as door plates.](https://contsize.com/figures/maersk-container-prefixes-en.png)

*Maersk container prefixes, and a number that uses one*

## Maersk B/L and booking numbers

**MAEU** is Maersk’s [SCAC](https://contsize.com/glossary/scac/), the carrier code printed on its own US payment instructions; no Maersk document we read says its bill of lading numbers begin with it, so enter a B/L or booking number exactly as your paperwork prints it. The tracking search takes either interchangeably with container numbers — useful because a B/L tracks the whole shipment when your cargo spans several boxes.

## How to track and trace a Maersk container on maersk.com

Append the number to the URL and the page opens already searched: that is the pre-filled link our checker generates. Beyond the timeline, Maersk exposes more self-service than most: the Maersk App mirrors tracking with push alerts, and reefer customers get **Captain Peter** — the remote-container-management assistant streaming live temperature, humidity and atmosphere data from the box itself.

*What the official tracker accepts*

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Container number | ✓ yes |
| Bill of lading (B/L) | ✓ yes |
| Booking reference | ✓ yes |
| Mobile app | ✓ yes |
| Pre-filled link | ✓ opened with a live number and it worked |
| Its SCAC (carrier code) | `MAEU` |

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 Maersk 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)

## Gemini: your Maersk box may be on a Hapag-Lloyd ship

Maersk and [Hapag-Lloyd](https://contsize.com/hapag-lloyd-container-tracking/) operate the Gemini network together, which means the two fleets share vessels across the main east–west trades. The practical consequence shows up in tracking: the vessel named against your container can be a Hapag-Lloyd ship even though every document you hold says Maersk. That is normal and it is not an error in the feed.

It does not move where you track. Events follow the bill of lading, not the hull — if Maersk issued your B/L, maersk.com has your events regardless of whose ship is carrying the box. The one case where it matters is a transshipment: Gemini is built around hub ports and feeder legs, so a box on an intra-regional feeder can go quiet for a few days between the discharge at the hub and the load onto the connecting ship.

## Maersk is one of three trackers whose link carries the number

We opened all eighteen carrier trackers in a real browser with a live container number in the URL. Three of them loaded the result directly; four loaded an empty search box and ignored the number entirely; the remaining eleven we have not tested and do not claim either way. Maersk is one of the three that work, which is why the tool on this page can hand you a finished link rather than a number to copy.

That is worth more than a saved paste. A working link can be bookmarked, mailed to a colleague or kept in a spreadsheet next to the shipment, and it will still open the right result tomorrow. With a tracker that ignores the parameter, any site offering you a "direct link" is opening an empty form and letting you believe otherwise.

Carrier profile

## Maersk at a glance

- **World fleet rank**: #2by capacity · Alphaliner, read 18 October 2026
- **Founded**: 1904122 years in business
- **Container prefixes**: 8verified against the BIC register
- **Alliance**: Gemini Cooperationwith 1 partner line

### The company

- **Headquarters**: Copenhagen, Denmark
- **Alliance partners**: [Hapag-Lloyd](https://contsize.com/hapag-lloyd-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**: [MAEU](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#maeu)[MRKU](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#mrku)[MSKU](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#msku)[PONU](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#ponu)[SEAU](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#seau)[MNBU](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#mnbu)[MRSU](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#mrsu)[SUDU](https://contsize.com/maersk-container-prefixes/#sudu)The first four letters of the container number.
- **SCAC (carrier code)**: MAEUMAEU is the code the line files under; none of its documents we read says its bill of lading numbers begin with it.
- **Official tracking site**: [maersk.com](https://www.maersk.com/tracking)Free, no account needed.

The company that effectively invented modern container shipping alliances now runs the Gemini Cooperation with Hapag-Lloyd (live since February 2025), trading scale for a hub-and-shuttle network built around schedule reliability.

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

**How do I track and trace a Maersk container?**

Paste the 11-character number into maersk.com/tracking, or append it to the address as in maersk.com/tracking/MSKU3077038 and the result loads without a second click. That one field also answers to bill of lading and booking numbers.

**Is Maersk Line the same thing as Maersk?**

Yes — Maersk Line was the former name of the ocean-carrier arm, and all eight prefixes plus its bill of lading and booking numbers resolve in the same search today. Paperwork printed under the old name needs no conversion.

**Are SUDU (Hamburg Süd) containers tracked on Maersk?**

Yes — Hamburg Süd was folded into Maersk, and SUDU is registered to Maersk A/S in the BIC register. Enter any SUDU number at maersk.com/tracking — or through the checker here — and it resolves normally.

**What is an MNBU container?**

MNBU is Maersk’s dedicated reefer prefix. If your cargo is temperature-controlled, expect this code — and note that reefer shipments can also stream live sensor data via Maersk’s Captain Peter service.

**Can I bookmark my Maersk tracking result?**

Yes — this is Maersk’s standout feature. The container number lives in the URL (maersk.com/tracking/YOURNUMBER), so the bookmark reopens live status every time. Only ONE and PIL offer the same among majors we tested.

**Does the Maersk tracker cover ocean and inland legs?**

Ocean and terminal events are standard; inland rail or truck moves appear when Maersk sells the inland leg (carrier haulage). If your forwarder arranged trucking separately, the feed stops at gate-out.

**Why does an old Maersk number from 2023 documents return nothing?**

Because completed shipments drop out of the live tracker some time after delivery, and no Maersk document we have read gives a fixed period. The number was valid; the trip is simply over. For historical data, request the shipment file from Maersk or your forwarder.

## Related pages

- [Container trackingCheck the digit → name the owner → open the tracker](https://contsize.com/container-tracking/)
- [Hapag-Lloyd tracking](https://contsize.com/hapag-lloyd-container-tracking/)
- [MSC tracking](https://contsize.com/msc-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/)