# OOCL Container Tracking

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

OOCL runs its own tracker even though the company is a COSCO subsidiary — the brands never merged their systems, so OOLU and OOCU boxes track only through OOCL’s cargo-tracking page and the My OOCL Center portal (moc.oocl.com). The search accepts container, [bill of lading](https://contsize.com/glossary/bill-of-lading/) and [booking numbers](https://contsize.com/glossary/booking-number/); pre-filled links do not work, and the site’s bot protection is among the strictest we tested, so use an ordinary browser and type the number. Bills of lading start with OOLU — the same four letters as the main container prefix, a rare case where the two match.

## Track a OOCL container by number

Hong Kong’s most storied container line keeps a distinctly independent digital life inside the [COSCO](https://contsize.com/cosco-container-tracking/) group: its own portal, its own app, its own documentation series. For tracking purposes, treat OOCL as a standalone carrier — group ownership changes nothing about where the data lives.

Two prefixes cover the whole fleet, which keeps validation simple; the checker here confirms the digit math before you face the portal’s login-free but bot-wary search page.

OOCL containers carry the prefixes OOLU and OOCU; each is worked through, with its check digit and where the code came from, on the prefix page of [OOCL](https://contsize.com/oocl-container-prefixes/).

## OOCL prefixes: OOLU and OOCU

Just two codes are registered here — **OOLU** on the vast majority of boxes and **OOCU** on the rest — both resolving to Orient Overseas Container Line in the BIC register. Leased tonnage rounds out capacity as it does everywhere, so cargo booked with OOCL can travel in a lessor’s box that still reports events under your OOCL booking. Prefix structure follows the standard [ISO 6346](https://contsize.com/iso-container-standards/) owner-code scheme.

*OOCL: verified container prefixes*

| Prefix | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| [`OOLU`](https://contsize.com/oocl-container-prefixes/#oolu) | A house code of OOCL, registered to it directly. |
| [`OOCU`](https://contsize.com/oocl-container-prefixes/#oocu) | A house code of OOCL, registered to it directly. |

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 2 BIC owner codes registered to OOCL — OOLU, OOCU — shown as door plates.](https://contsize.com/figures/oocl-container-prefixes-en.png)

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

## OOCL B/L numbers: OOLU on paper too

Unusually, OOCL’s documentation prefix matches its main equipment code: bills of lading also begin with **OOLU**, followed by a longer numeric string than a container number carries. Length is how the tracker tells them apart, so paste the full document number rather than trimming it to look container-shaped. Booking references from My OOCL Center work in the same field.

## Using the OOCL tracker and My OOCL Center

Expect a hard bot wall: automated queries get challenged aggressively, which is why third-party sites so often show stale or missing OOCL data. In a normal browser the cargo-tracking search is free and account-less, while **My OOCL Center** (moc.oocl.com) adds saved shipments and documents for registered users. Since January 2025 the mobile side is the new “OOCL” app, which replaced the retired OOCL Lite.

*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 | `OOLU` |

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 OOCL 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)

## Ocean Alliance: four lines, one set of ships

OOCL sails in the Ocean Alliance with [CMA CGM](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-tracking/), COSCO and [Evergreen](https://contsize.com/evergreen-container-tracking/). On the main Asia–Europe and transpacific services the four lines share vessels, so the ship carrying your OOCL container is frequently owned and operated by one of the other three. The vessel name in your tracking result will not match the line on your paperwork, and nothing is wrong.

OOCL and COSCO are closer than alliance partners: COSCO has owned OOCL since 2018, and the two run as separate brands with separate trackers. Your events are wherever your bill of lading was issued — an OOCL B/L tracks at oocl.com even when the hull belongs to COSCO.

## When the OOCL tracker returns nothing

**Check the number before you blame the tracker.** OOLU and OOCU are easy to mistype into each other, and a single wrong character in the serial produces a number that looks right and matches nothing. The checker here recomputes the check digit, which catches exactly that.

**Give it a day.** A booking confirmed this morning has no events yet: the first one appears at [gate-in](https://contsize.com/glossary/gate-in/) or loading, not at booking. Searching again an hour later will return the same nothing.

**You may be on the wrong site.** COSCO has owned OOCL since 2018 and the two run separate trackers. An OOCL bill of lading does not resolve on the COSCO page and the reverse is equally true — the document decides, not the ownership.

**Old paperwork expires.** Shipments are archived some weeks after delivery. A number from a file is often perfectly valid and simply no longer carried in the live system.

Carrier profile

## OOCL at a glance

- **World fleet rank**: #4counted with COSCO Shipping Lines · Alphaliner, read 18 October 2026
- **First container service**: 196957 years ago
- **Container prefixes**: 2verified against the BIC register
- **Alliance**: Ocean Alliancewith 3 partner lines

### The company

- **Headquarters**: Hong Kong
- **Alliance partners**: [CMA CGM](https://contsize.com/cma-cgm-container-tracking/) · [COSCO Shipping Lines](https://contsize.com/cosco-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**: [OOLU](https://contsize.com/oocl-container-prefixes/#oolu)[OOCU](https://contsize.com/oocl-container-prefixes/#oocu)The first four letters of the container number.
- **Bill of lading numbers start with**: OOLUOOLU is also one of its container prefixes, so check which number you are holding.
- **Official tracking site**: [oocl.com](https://www.oocl.com/eng/ourservices/eservices/cargotracking/Pages/cargotracking.aspx)Free, no account needed.

Its Far East–US West Coast liner service went fully container in November 1969, and OOCL was acquired by COSCO in 2018 yet still operates as a separate brand — which is also why Alphaliner counts its ships inside the COSCO group figure rather than ranking it on its own line. It sails in the Ocean Alliance.

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

**Can I track an OOCL container on the COSCO website?**

No — despite common ownership since 2018, the two carriers maintain separate portals, so OOLU and OOCU numbers return nothing on eLines and must be searched at oocl.com.

**What happened to the OOCL Lite app?**

It was retired when the new “OOCL” app launched in January 2025. The replacement covers tracking, schedules and notifications; OOCL Lite no longer receives data.

**Why does my OOCL bill of lading look like a container number?**

Because both start with OOLU. The B/L continues with more digits than the 6+1 a container carries — enter it whole and the tracker recognises it as a shipment document.

**Why do tracking aggregators fail on OOCL boxes so often?**

OOCL’s bot protection is stricter than most carriers’, so scrapers get blocked and show gaps. The official search in a regular browser remains free and reliable.

**Where does OOCL rank among the world’s carriers?**

Nowhere separately — Alphaliner folds its fleet into the COSCO group total, which ranks fourth worldwide. As a brand, OOCL keeps its own network, paperwork and tracker.

**Does OOCL tracking require a My OOCL Center account?**

No — the public cargo search works without registration. An account adds shipment management, documentation access and alerts on top of the same event data.

## 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/)