MSC
MSC (legal entity Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A.) is a mega-carrier headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1970, the line has spent 56 years building out its container service network and today operates a fleet of 875 vessels under the SCAC code MSCU. Total operated capacity stands near 6,500,000 TEU, placing the carrier among the recognised operators on its core trade lanes. The company holds intermodal equipment under 6 registered ISO 6346 owner prefixes, which appear on every box it owns or long-term leases.
MSC is most active on the following corridors: Asia-Europe, Transpacific, Transatlantic, Africa, Latin America, Middle East. Through its membership of the MSC Standalone Network, the carrier shares vessel capacity with on East-West services. Direct customer contact is available via +41 22 703 8888 or the carrier's web portal at msc.com.
MSC container prefixes
Every intermodal container carries an ISO 6346 owner code — three letters identifying the owner, plus a single category letter (almost always U for freight containers). These four-letter prefixes are the fastest way to identify which carrier controls a given box. MSC has the following registered prefixes recorded in the BIC database. If a container in your possession begins with any of these codes, the box is owned by or leased on long term to MSC.
MEDUMSCUMSDUMSWUFCIUCAIU
To track a container under one of these prefixes, contact the carrier directly using the bill-of-lading number or container number. Most ocean carriers expose a public tracking endpoint on their website that accepts either format. MSC publishes its tracking page under the main msc.com domain.
MSC sample transit times
Indicative point-to-point transit times for services on which MSC appears in rotation. Actual ETAs vary with vessel rotation, port congestion, weather and trans-shipment patterns. We update these figures every quarter against published carrier schedules.
| Origin | Destination | Transit | Frequency | Corridor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai, China | Rotterdam, Netherlands | 32 days | Daily sailings via 7 services | Asia-Europe |
| Ningbo, China | Hamburg, Germany | 35 days | Multiple weekly | Asia-Europe |
| Shenzhen, China | Felixstowe, United Kingdom | 30 days | Weekly | Asia-Europe |
| Qingdao, China | Antwerp, Belgium | 36 days | Weekly | Asia-Europe |
See all 8 corridors served by MSC →
How to track a MSC container
Tracking a MSC 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 (e.g. MEDU) is followed by six numeric digits and a single check digit. If the prefix matches one in the list above, the box is on a MSC bill of lading. Visit msc.com, 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 MSC hull. In the last case, the prefix still resolves to MSC as equipment owner but the schedule data lives with the operating carrier. MSC's customer service can normally cross-reference the booking and route you to the correct alliance partner. Reach the carrier on +41 22 703 8888 during European business hours.
Related ocean carriers
Operators most often compared with MSC on overlapping trade lanes:
- Kuehne+Nagel — Schindellegi, Switzerland, founded 1890. SCAC KNCL.
- Trafigura Maritime — Geneva, Switzerland, founded 1993. SCAC TRFG.
- Vitol Shipping — Geneva, Switzerland, founded 1966. SCAC VITS.