2 prefixes · shipping line
Yang Ming container prefixes: YMLU, YMMU
Track on yangming.com — official Yang Ming tracker
Full Yang Ming container tracking guide →
YMLU and YMMU are the BIC owner prefixes registered to Yang Ming. A container number that starts with any of them belongs to the Yang Ming fleet and is tracked free at yangming.com. The eleventh character of the number is a check digit; it is worked out below for each prefix.
Yang Ming is Taiwan’s number-two carrier, partly state-owned and a century-old name revived for container shipping; it ranks ninth worldwide.
Two registered codes cover the fleet and both resolve to the yangming.com cargo-tracking page.
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 2 Yang Ming prefixes
| Prefix | A valid number | Check digit | Where the code comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
YMLU | YMLU 705383-4 | 4 | — |
YMMU | YMMU 735302-8 | 8 | — |
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
YMLU: check digit, worked through
YMLU is registered to Yang Ming. Take YMLU 705383-4: 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 4.
| Character | Value | Weight | Product |
|---|---|---|---|
Y | 37 | ×1 | 37 |
M | 24 | ×2 | 48 |
L | 23 | ×4 | 92 |
U | 32 | ×8 | 256 |
7 | 7 | ×16 | 112 |
0 | 0 | ×32 | 0 |
5 | 5 | ×64 | 320 |
3 | 3 | ×128 | 384 |
8 | 8 | ×256 | 2048 |
3 | 3 | ×512 | 1536 |
Sum 4833 → 4833 mod 11 = 4 → check digit 4 → YMLU 705383-4
YMMU: check digit, worked through
YMMU is registered to Yang Ming. Take YMMU 735302-8: 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 8.
| Character | Value | Weight | Product |
|---|---|---|---|
Y | 37 | ×1 | 37 |
M | 24 | ×2 | 48 |
M | 24 | ×4 | 96 |
U | 32 | ×8 | 256 |
7 | 7 | ×16 | 112 |
3 | 3 | ×32 | 96 |
5 | 5 | ×64 | 320 |
3 | 3 | ×128 | 384 |
0 | 0 | ×256 | 0 |
2 | 2 | ×512 | 1024 |
Sum 2373 → 2373 mod 11 = 8 → check digit 8 → YMMU 735302-8
Tracking a Yang Ming container
Paste the number into the form at yangming.com. We have not tested whether a link can carry the number there, so the checker on this page sends you to the form.
| Container number | ✓ yes |
|---|---|
| Bill of lading (B/L) | ✓ yes |
| Booking reference | — no |
| Mobile app | ✓ yes |
| Pre-filled link | not tried yet |
| Its bill of lading starts with | YMLU |
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 Yang Ming 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 YMLU and YMMU containers?
Yang Ming does, a shipping line founded in 1972 — the BIC register lists 2 owner prefixes under it: YMLU and YMMU.
How do I track a YMLU container?
Free, on the official Yang Ming tracker at yangming.com — paste the full 11-character number; no account is needed. The same tracker serves all 2 Yang Ming prefixes.
Why does Yang Ming have 2 prefixes?
Because one prefix holds only a million serial numbers and a fleet outgrows it — and because a line that buys another line keeps the codes painted on the boxes it bought. All 2 are tracked on the same yangming.com system.
Is YMLU a shipping line prefix or a leasing prefix?
A shipping line prefix — Yang Ming both owns the box and moves it, so the owner and the tracker are the same company.
Is YMLU7053834 a valid container number?
Yes — YMLU 705383-4 passes the ISO 6346 check: the weighted sum for YMLU705383 leaves a remainder of 4 when divided by 11, which gives check digit 4. 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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