Yang Ming
Container Tracking
Yang Ming keeps things unusually simple: two container prefixes, one tracking portal, no acquired fleets to untangle. Enter a container, bill of lading or booking number for the latest milestones.
What a Yang Ming 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)
YMLU1234567Standard ISO 6346. Only YMLU and YMMU are registered to Yang Ming, a short, clean list by industry standards.
Bill of lading number
Alphanumeric, no publicly documented format
YMLUW123456789Yang Ming publishes no B/L specification. Enter the number exactly as printed on your document.
Booking number
Alphanumeric
W123456789Accepted in the same field as container and B/L numbers.
Yang Ming container prefixes
These owner codes are registered to Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation in the BIC ISO 6346 register. Containers moving under a Yang Ming 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 Yang Ming 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
Yang Ming is already selected
Because you are on the Yang Ming 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 Yang Ming's own portal directly at Yang Ming cargo tracking . The advantage of tracking here is keeping several carriers on one screen instead of one portal per line.
About Yang Ming
Yang Ming Marine Transport was established on 28 December 1972 as a Taiwanese state enterprise, taking its name and lineage from a shipping company founded in mainland China decades earlier. It was later privatised, though the government retains a significant stake, and it operates today as a commercial carrier within the Premier Alliance.
It is headquartered in Keelung, the port city north of Taipei, rather than in the capital, a small detail that distinguishes it from Evergreen and Wan Hai, both Taipei-based. Its network centres on the Transpacific and Asia–Europe trades with a supporting intra-Asia feeder structure.
For tracking purposes Yang Ming is one of the more straightforward carriers to deal with. It has grown organically rather than by absorbing other lines, so there are no inherited container fleets, no legacy prefixes from acquired brands, and no ambiguity about which entity owns what. Two prefixes, one tracking portal.
Yang Ming tracking: what to check first
Two prefixes, and that is the whole list. YMLU and YMMU. This is genuinely useful: with carriers like CMA CGM or Maersk you have to check a number against eight or nine possible codes, but with Yang Ming anything else on the booking is a leased box. Triton, CAI, Textainer and Seaco containers all move on Yang Ming services under their own prefixes.
Check the check digit before assuming the number is wrong. The last digit of a container number is a modulus calculation over the first ten characters. If you have transposed two digits, the number will look plausible and fail every lookup. Re-reading it against the door of the container, or against the bill of lading rather than a forwarder’s email, resolves most of these.
The number may not be released yet. Booking references are issued at the point space is confirmed. Movement events generally start when the container is gated in at the origin terminal, which can be weeks later.
Yang Ming reaches Pakistan through transshipment rather than direct deep-sea calls, so expect a hand-off at a Southeast Asian or Gulf hub and a correspondingly quiet stretch in the timeline while the box waits for its connecting vessel.
What each Yang Ming 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 Yang Ming shipments usually move
Yang Ming tracking questions
Which container prefixes does Yang Ming use?
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YMLU and YMMU, both registered to Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation in the BIC register. Unlike carriers built through acquisition, Yang Ming has no inherited prefixes to confuse things. If it is not YMLU or YMMU and it is on a Yang Ming booking, it is a leased container.
What does a Yang Ming container number look like?
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Eleven characters: YMLU or YMMU, then the letter U, then seven digits, as in YMLU1234567. The final digit is a checksum over the preceding ten characters, so a single mistyped character invalidates the whole number.
What is Yang Ming's SCAC code?
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YMLU, the four-letter identifier used on US customs and EDI filings. It matches one of the container prefixes, which is coincidence: the two are separate registries.
Is Yang Ming state-owned?
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Partly. Yang Ming was established as a state enterprise in 1972 and was later privatised, but the Taiwanese government retains a significant shareholding. In practice it operates as a commercial carrier and sits in the Premier Alliance on the main east-west trades.
Where is Yang Ming headquartered?
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Keelung City, in northern Taiwan, not Taipei, which is where several other Taiwanese carriers are based. Both the BIC container register and Yang Ming's own site give Keelung.
Why is my Yang Ming number not found?
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Usually because it has not been released yet. A booking reference exists from the moment space is confirmed, but movement events generally do not appear until the container is gated in at origin. Otherwise check for a transcription error and confirm the fourth character is U.
Does Maalbardaar charge for Yang Ming tracking?
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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 Yang Ming's portal separately from everyone else's. Track your whole book of shipments in one place.
Not shipping with Yang Ming?
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 Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation. "Yang Ming" 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: YMLU and YMMU confirmed against the BIC ISO 6346 register, and the Keelung headquarters corroborated by both the register and Yang Ming's own site. Founding date of 28 December 1972 from Yang Ming corporate material. SCAC cross-corroborated across two published ocean-carrier lists.