CMA CGM
Container Tracking
CMA CGM absorbed APL, ANL and Containerships, and all three still move boxes under their original prefixes. Enter a container, bill of lading or booking number for the latest carrier and terminal milestones.
What a CMA CGM tracking number looks like
The lookup above accepts any of these in the same field. If one returns nothing, try another. Carriers release milestone data against different identifiers at different stages.
Container number
4 letters + 7 digits (11 characters)
CMAU1234567Standard ISO 6346. Eight owner codes are registered to CMA CGM, several of them inherited from acquired carriers.
Bill of lading number
Alphanumeric, no publicly documented fixed length
CMDUABC123456CMA CGM does not publish a B/L specification. Enter the number exactly as printed on your document.
Booking number
Alphanumeric
ABC123456Accepted in the same field as container and B/L numbers.
CMA CGM container prefixes
These owner codes are registered to CMA CGM S.A. in the BIC ISO 6346 register. Containers moving under a CMA CGM booking may also carry a leasing company's prefix. A leased box is still your shipment, the prefix just does not identify the carrier.
How to track a CMA CGM shipment
- 1
Find your container or BL number
It is printed on your bill of lading, your booking confirmation, or on the container door itself. Any of the three works in the search box above.
- 2
CMA CGM is already selected
Because you are on the CMA CGM page, the carrier dropdown is filled in for you. If you actually need a different line, change it. The selection is not locked.
- 3
Enter the number and press Track
Type it exactly as printed. Spaces and dashes are fine, but a mistyped letter will return nothing, since the check digit at the end only validates against the correct serial.
- 4
Read the milestone timeline
You will see terminal and vessel events from origin gate-in through to empty return, plus the vessel and voyage your box is actually on.
You can also check CMA CGM's own portal directly at CMA CGM cargo tracking . The advantage of tracking here is keeping several carriers on one screen instead of one portal per line.
About CMA CGM
CMA CGM was founded in Marseille in 1978 by Jacques Saadé, a Lebanese entrepreneur who had left Beirut during the civil war, and it is still family-controlled. It grew into the third-largest container line in the world mostly by acquisition (Australian National Line, then Containerships, then APL in 2016), and it remains headquartered in Marseille rather than relocating to one of the usual maritime capitals.
The acquisitions are the thing to understand if you are tracking. Eight container owner codes are registered to CMA CGM, and four of them are inherited: APLU and APZU from APL, ANNU from ANL, CNCU from Containerships. Each acquired fleet kept its stencilling, so an entirely ordinary CMA CGM booking can arrive under a prefix that looks like a different carrier.
CMA CGM has also pushed harder into logistics than most of its peers, buying CEVA Logistics and building an air cargo division. For a shipper that mainly shows up as more options on the same booking rather than as a different container operation.
CMA CGM tracking: what to check first
The prefix belongs to an acquired carrier. If your container reads APLU, APZU, APHU, ANNU or CNCU, that is a CMA CGM box. People routinely search these on the wrong carrier’s portal. APL in particular has enough brand recognition left that it feels like a separate line. It is not, for tracking purposes.
CMDU is a SCAC, not a container prefix. CMA CGM’s SCAC is CMDU, and it does not appear on any container. A number starting CMDU is a bill of lading reference or a customs filing identifier, never a box.
The number has not been released. Booking references are issued at confirmation of space, often well before anything moves. Movement events generally start at origin gate-in.
CMA CGM’s Asia–Europe and Indian Ocean services route through a small number of very large hubs, so a Karachi import will frequently show a transshipment leg. The stretch between hub discharge and reloading is where the timeline goes quiet and where most real delay accumulates, since no exception event fires for a box simply waiting for its connection.
What each CMA CGM tracking status means
Ocean carriers share the same terminal and vessel event vocabulary, so these milestones read the same whichever line you are tracking.
Gate in
The container passed through the terminal gate at the origin port and is now in the terminal's custody, waiting to be loaded.
Loaded on vessel
The box was lifted onto the ship. This is the milestone that fixes your shipment to a specific vessel and voyage number.
Vessel departure
The ship has sailed from the origin port. Transit time is measured from here, and it is the point most ETA calculations are anchored to.
Transshipment
The container was discharged at an intermediate hub and will be reloaded onto a second vessel. Most delays originate here rather than at origin.
Discharged
The container came off the ship at the destination port. Free time and demurrage clocks typically start from this event.
Gate out
The container left the terminal on a truck or rail wagon. Once this fires, the terminal's storage charges stop and the haulier's clock starts.
Empty return
The unpacked container was returned to the carrier's nominated depot. This closes the shipment and stops any per-diem detention charges.
Where CMA CGM shipments usually move
CMA CGM tracking questions
Why does my CMA CGM container start APLU or ANNU?
expand_more
Because those boxes came from acquired carriers. CMA CGM bought APL in 2016 and ANL earlier, and their container fleets kept their original prefixes. APLU and APZU are APL codes, ANNU is ANL, and CNCU is Containerships, all now registered to CMA-CGM in the BIC register.
Which container prefixes does CMA CGM use?
expand_more
CMAU, CGMU, ECMU, APZU, APHU, APLU, ANNU and CNCU. That is an unusually long list for one carrier and it is entirely down to acquisitions. Leased containers moving under a CMA CGM booking will carry the leasing company's prefix instead.
What does a CMA CGM container number look like?
expand_more
Eleven characters: one of the eight CMA CGM owner codes, then the letter U, then seven digits, as in CMAU1234567. The last digit is a checksum calculated from the preceding ten characters.
What is CMA CGM's SCAC code?
expand_more
CMDU. Note it does not match any of the container prefixes, which is the normal case: SCAC codes and BIC owner codes are separate registries and most carriers have different values for each.
Are APL shipments still tracked separately?
expand_more
APL continues as a CMA CGM brand and older documentation may carry APL references, but the containers are registered to CMA-CGM. If an APL number does not resolve, check whether you are holding a house bill from a forwarder rather than a carrier document.
Why is my CMA CGM number not found?
expand_more
Most often because the number has not been released yet: booking references generally return nothing until the container is gated in at origin. Otherwise check for a transcription error, and confirm the fourth character of a container number is U.
Does Maalbardaar charge for CMA CGM tracking?
expand_more
No. Tracking is included with a free Maalbardaar account, which also lets you keep shipments across several carriers on one dashboard instead of checking each carrier's portal separately.
Every carrier on one dashboard.
Stop checking CMA CGM's portal separately from everyone else's. Track your whole book of shipments in one place.
Not shipping with CMA CGM?
Track any of these lines from the same dashboard, or use the general tracking page if your carrier is not listed.
Ocean carriers
Air cargo
Maalbardaar is an independent logistics technology platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CMA CGM S.A.. "CMA CGM" and all related marks are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only. For official information, visit the carrier's own website . Carrier data sources: Prefixes confirmed individually against the BIC ISO 6346 owner-code register, registered to CMA-CGM. HQ and founding date from CMA CGM corporate material. SCAC cross-corroborated across two published ocean-carrier lists.