How to Track a RoRo Vessel and Follow Your Car's Voyage

Once your car is loaded and the vessel sails, you do not have to wait blindly until it arrives. With a few pieces of information you can follow the ship across the ocean and form a realistic idea of when it will reach the destination port. The starting point is knowing your vessel's name and voyage number.

Your exporter or forwarder provides the vessel name and voyage number, usually on the booking confirmation or the bill of lading. With the vessel name you can use public ship-tracking services that show a vessel's live position, speed, and estimated arrival based on its AIS signal. This lets you watch the broad progress of the voyage in near real time.

Many shipping lines also offer their own cargo or vehicle tracking through a booking or bill of lading number, which can give more shipment-specific milestones than a generic vessel tracker. Remember that estimated arrival times shift with weather, congestion, and schedule changes, so treat any date as an estimate rather than a fixed promise.

If you cannot locate your vessel or the dates look off, ask your forwarder rather than guessing. They can confirm the latest schedule and flag any transshipment legs where your car changes vessels. Keep your booking and bill of lading numbers handy, as nearly every tracking method depends on them.