About MSC
The Mediterranean Shipping Company, founded in Geneva in 1970 by Gianluigi Aponte and still privately held by the Aponte family. Overtook Maersk in 2022 to become the world’s largest container line, and it’s family-owned, not listed.
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Its main trade areas: Global, Transpacific, Asia–Europe, Latin America and Africa.
MSC operates as a standalone carrier, outside the three global alliances, though it runs slot-share partnerships on some trades.
How to track a MSC container
Every MSC box carries an ISO 6346 number: four letters (the owner prefix), six digits and a check digit. MSC prefixes include MSBU, MSCU, MSDU, MSGU, MSMU, MSNU, MSPU and MSTU. Enter the container number, the bill of lading or the booking reference and Navo24 detects which one it is.
The tracker joins MSC's own events (gate out, loaded, departed, transhipped, discharged) with the vessel's AIS position, so you see where the box is now, not where it was at the last port call.
MSC schedules, rates and free time
Before booking, compare MSC sailings by transit time and by real on-time reliability: SchedulesMCP measures actual against scheduled arrivals for every lane MSC serves.
For the price, FreightRatesMCP shows market rates for 20GP, 40GP and 40HC on a port pair. After arrival, demurrage and detention start once MSC's free time runs out; the free-time page lists MSC's published allowances by port, and Navo24 counts the days left on every box.
