Blue Water Facts Liner intelligence

MOL (Legacy)

SCAC MOLU · Tokyo, Japan · founded 1884 · Independent / non-aligned

MOL (Legacy) (legal entity Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.) is a niche operator headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1884, the line has spent 142 years building out its container service network and today operates a fleet of 0 vessels under the SCAC code MOLU. MOL (Legacy) operates as a non-vessel-operating common carrier (NVOCC) and does not own its own container ships, placing the carrier among the recognised operators on its core trade lanes.

MOL (Legacy) is most active on the following corridors: Bulk, Car carrier, ONE shareholder. The line operates on a standalone basis and does not share vessel slots with other ocean carriers under a formal global alliance. Direct customer contact is available via +81 3 3587 7111 or the carrier's web portal at mol.co.jp.

MOL (Legacy) corridor coverage

MOL (Legacy) concentrates its services on Bulk, Car carrier, ONE shareholder. Customers on these lanes typically see weekly or twice-weekly sailings depending on season and trade balance. For a current sailing schedule, contact the carrier directly or consult its weekly schedule publication.

How to track a MOL (Legacy) container

Tracking a MOL (Legacy) container starts with confirming the prefix. Look at the container's left-hand corner casting plate or the painted code on the door — the four-letter ISO 6346 owner code is followed by six numeric digits and a single check digit. Blue Water Facts no longer publishes a per-carrier owner-prefix list (see /accuracy/ for why); confirm the operator via the carrier's own tracking portal or your bill of lading. Visit mol.co.jp, navigate to the carrier's tracking or "track and trace" portal, and paste the full container number. The portal will return current vessel position, the next scheduled port call, the estimated time of arrival (ETA) and the most recent equipment events such as gate-in, loaded, discharged and gate-out.

If the carrier portal does not return a result, the most likely causes are: the container has not yet been gate-in at the origin terminal, the bill of lading number is in a different format (check whether the system expects an MBL versus an HBL), or the box is moving on a partner alliance vessel rather than a MOL (Legacy) hull. In the last case, the schedule data lives with the operating carrier, not the equipment owner. MOL (Legacy)'s customer service can normally cross-reference the booking and route you to the correct alliance partner. Reach the carrier on +81 3 3587 7111 during European business hours.

Related ocean carriers

Operators most often compared with MOL (Legacy) on overlapping trade lanes: