Turn COSCO SHIPPING Lines eBusiness into an API

What you can build on COSCO eBusiness

• Track a B/L or booking

  Build this

  Reads Cargo Tracking for one B/L or booking number: the vessel, voyage, ports and ETA, and each container's latest status and location.

  Takes

  B/L or booking number

  Returns

  Vessel, voyage, port of loading, port of discharge, ETA, containers with type, latest status, location and time

• Get a container's event history

  Build this

  Reads Cargo Tracking by container number and returns every event on the container's timeline, from gate-in at the first port of loading to gate-out at the last port.

  Takes

  Container number

  Returns

  Container number, type, events with description, location and time

• Find sailings between two places

  Build this

  Searches the sailing schedule from an origin to a destination for a number of weeks and reads each sailing's legs, dates and cargo cut-off.

  Takes

  Origin, destination, departure from date, number of weeks

  Returns

  Service, vessel, voyage, port of loading, port of discharge, ETD, ETA, cargo cut-off, transit time in days

• Submit shipping instructions for a booking

  Build this

  Opens Document Service, then Shipping Instructions, then Shipping Instructions Submission, fills in the instructions for one booking and submits them.

  Takes

  Booking number, shipper, consignee, notify party, cargo description, containers and seals

  Returns

  Booking number, whether the submission went through, the message the site shows

Automate COSCO eBusiness with a workflow

A workflow runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

• ETA changes on your open B/Ls

  Build this

  Starts

  Every weekday at 7:00

  Step 1

  For each B/L on your list, track the B/L on Cargo Tracking.

  Step 2

  Keep the B/Ls whose ETA changed since the last run.

  Step 3

  Email you the list with B/L number, vessel, voyage, port of discharge, old ETA and new ETA.

• Containers discharged at the last port

  Build this

  Starts

  Every hour

  Step 1

  For each container on your list, get its event history on Cargo Tracking.

  Step 2

  Keep the containers with a Discharged at Last POD event that was not there on the last run.

  Step 3

  Post container number, location and discharge time to your trucking or warehouse system's webhook.

• Next four weeks of sailings on your lanes

  Build this

  Starts

  Every Monday at 8:00

  Step 1

  For each origin and destination pair, find sailings departing over the next 4 weeks.

  Step 2

  Group the sailings by lane and sort them by cargo cut-off.

  Step 3

  Email you the summary with vessel, voyage, ETD, ETA, cut-off and transit time.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a method, it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Track a B/L or booking” would look like.

curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "elines.coscoshipping.com/track_bl_or_booking",
    "input": {
      "number": "6400000123",
      "number_type": "bl"
    }
  }'

{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "number": "6400000123",
    "number_type": "bl",
    "vessel": "GLOBEX HARMONY",
    "voyage": "052E",
    "port_of_loading": "Shanghai",
    "port_of_discharge": "Long Beach",
    "estimated_arrival": "2026-11-24 06:00",
    "containers": [
      {
        "container_number": "ACMU1234565",
        "type": "40HQ",
        "status": "Departure from First POL",
        "location": "Shanghai",
        "time": "2026-11-10 21:40"
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

COSCO eBusiness’s own options

COSCO SHIPPING Lines runs the COP open API platform, with cargo tracking and sailing schedule queries plus services for China domestic trade. Access is by application, reviewed within 15 working days, and the documentation, mostly in Chinese, describes a trial run with free data during the trial. On the eBusiness site itself you track cargo, search schedules and submit shipping instructions by hand.

Read on November 12, 2026: COP open API platform documentation, How do I submit my shipping instructions (SI)?.

Signing in to COSCO eBusiness

On COSCO eBusiness, shipping instructions are submitted after you log in with your own eBusiness account. With Fous you sign in once through the site's own sign-in with that account: the login is sealed with AES-256, never returned by the API or written to logs, and when the session expires Fous signs back in.

Worth knowing

Three kinds of number, two kinds of answer

Cargo Tracking takes a B/L, booking or container number. A B/L or booking returns the vessel, ports and each container's latest status; a container number returns that container's full event history.

Cargo available is not the port ETA

COSCO's tracking data has the estimated arrival at the port of discharge and, separately, the estimated time cargo is available at the place of delivery. A method should return the one your team plans with.

Schedules are searched in weeks

A sailing search runs from an origin to a destination by earliest departure or latest arrival, over a number of weeks. Each leg carries its own vessel, voyage, ETD, ETA and cargo cut-off.

COP access is reviewed and in Chinese

COP keys come after COSCO reviews an application, with feedback within 15 working days. The documentation is mostly in Chinese, and each API is limited to 1,000 calls a day per account.

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