How to Check If Your Container Ship Is Running Late

If a customer is asking where their container is and your only option is to log into a carrier portal and wait, there's a faster way to get a straight answer. Here's how to check whether a container ship is actually running late.

The problem with carrier portals

Carrier tracking pages are often slow to update, hidden behind a login, and vague about why a shipment has slipped. By the time the status changes, the delay has already happened.

What “late” looks like in the data

• Slowed down — the ship is steaming well below its usual speed.
• Diverted — it's taking a longer route or has changed destination.
• Waiting — it's anchored or drifting outside a congested port instead of berthing.

How to check in seconds

1. Find the carrying vessel's name on your booking or bill of lading.
2. Open Ship Lens and ask “Where is the [vessel name]?”
3. Read its live position, speed and course — and how fresh the fix is.

A ship sitting at anchor outside port, or crawling along at half speed, tells you a delay is likely long before the portal admits it. (Remember that mid-ocean positions can be hours old — that's normal, not a delay.)

More on this in our guide for shippers and freight forwarders.