> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mercora.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Shipments > Track the vessels, containers and trucks carrying your cargo, on a trade and across the whole book. A shipment is one cargo movement: a vessel, a container, a truck, an ITT (inland transfer) or a bulk parcel. One shipment can carry cargo for several trades, and one trade can move on several shipments. Mercora shows shipments in two places: * the **Shipments** tab on each trade, for that trade's cargo; * the **Shipments** page in the sidebar, for every movement across the book. On the sugar trade VCS-S-2026-0714, for example, one container shipment on the vessel KITI BHUM carries all 27 MT from Laem Chabang to Singapore under B/L RCLLCH2607841. > [!NOTE] > > Before you start: shipments usually come from a reviewed B/L. If you haven't processed one yet, see [Matching documents to trades](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/matching.md) or follow the [walkthrough](https://docs.mercora.io/getting-started/walkthrough.md). ## The Shipments tab on a trade > [!NOTE] > > Available when the **Shipments (trade tab)** module is turned on for your workspace. It is on by default. Ask your workspace admin. Open a trade and choose the **Shipments** tab. **Shipments summary** shows the number of **Movements**, the total shipped **Quantity**, and how many are **Delivered**. **Shipments** lists the trade's vessels, trucks and other movements, one row each. Containers don't get their own row here: they sit under the vessel that carries them, on that shipment's **Cargo** tab. The header counts the movements, the containers, and any of the trade's documents that aren't attached to a shipment yet. Click that count to jump to the trade's documents. | Column | What it shows | | - | - | | **Reference** | The vessel name or shipment reference, with the B/L (bill of lading) number. | | **Type** | Vessel, container, truck, ITT or bulk. | | **Status** | Planned, Loading, In transit, Arrived, Assumed delivered, Delivered or Cancelled. | | **Route** | Load port to discharge port, and the quantity. | | **Docs** | How many documents are attached to the shipment. | | **Discrepancies** | How many warnings the shipment's documents raised. | Click a row to open the shipment. The row's menu offers **Open shipment** and **Unlink from trade**. Unlinking a vessel also unlinks its containers from this trade. ### Add a shipment to a trade **1. Open the dialog** On the trade's **Shipments** tab, click **Add shipment**. **2. Link or create** To use a shipment that's already in Mercora, pick it under **Link an existing shipment**. Search by B/L, reference or vessel. The list holds in-flight shipments that aren't on this trade yet. Linking adds the trade to the shipment, and the shipment keeps its other trades. To start a new one, click **Create a new shipment** and fill in the form. It's linked to this trade when you save. **3. Attach** Click **Attach**. Shipments are usually created and linked for you to approve when a B/L or other shipping document is reviewed in the Inbox. See [Matching documents to trades](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/matching.md). ## The Shipments page > [!NOTE] > > Available when the **Shipments** module is turned on for your workspace. Ask your workspace admin. **Shipments** in the sidebar lists every cargo movement across your trades. ![The Shipments page in List view with the Active and Completed tabs, the Type, Needs review and Display controls, and the Map / List toggle](https://mintcdn.com/placeholder-f4ffdeec/22McaegbdDRSI41b/images/trades/shipments-list.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=22McaegbdDRSI41b\&q=85\&s=bc0aa782b40653da1bf97b9ea9e734eb) The Shipments page in List view, grouped by vessel: B/L RCLLCH2607841 on KITI BHUM, loading at Laem Chabang for Singapore. * **Active** and **Completed** tabs split in-flight movements from finished ones. Each tab shows its count. * **Map** and **List** switch the Active tab between a route map of live vessel positions and a table. The map needs Vessel Tracking (see below). * **Search** matches vessel, reference, port or deal. * **Type** filters by vessel, container, truck, ITT or bulk. **Break-bulk (no containers)** picks vessels and bulk shipments that carry no containers. * **Needs review** shows only shipments with something for you to check. * **Display** groups the list by **Vessel**, **Day (ETD)**, **Type** or **None**. **Reset to default** returns to the standard layout, and an admin can **Set as workspace default** for everyone. * **Refresh** asks for fresh vessel positions now. The list columns are **Reference**, **Deal**, **Type**, **Status**, **Route**, **Qty**, **ETD** (estimated departure), **ETA** (estimated arrival), **Docs** and **Discrepancies**. The Completed tab adds **Delivered**. ### Create a shipment * **New shipment** opens a form for the reference, carrier, vessel name, voyage number, B/L number and date, type, status, ports, ETD and ETA. * **Upload B/L** sends a bill of lading through document processing. Review it in the Inbox to create the shipment, even if it doesn't match a trade yet. ### A shipment's page Open a shipment to see its tabs: * **Overview**: the route map, the tracking line, and the cargo, route and delivery figures. * **Documents**: the documents attached to the shipment. * **Discrepancies**: differences between the shipment's documents and the shipment record. For each one, choose **Keep doc value** or **Keep shipment value**. * **Cargo**: what the shipment carries. For a vessel with containers, one row per **Container** with its type, seal, weight and whether it's **On packing list**. For other shipments, the cargo facts as one line. The panel on the right holds **Details** (reference, type, B/L number and date, quantity, carrier), **Route** (load and discharge ports, ETD, ETA, delivered date), **Vessel** (vessel name, voyage number, IMO and MMSI identifiers), **Trades**, and any custom fields your admin added to shipments. **Link it to trades.** In the **Trades** card, search for a trade to add, or remove one. A shipment can serve several trades. **Change its status.** Click the status pill to move the shipment along Planned, Loading, In transit, Arrived and Delivered. **Mark delivered** jumps straight to Delivered. Enter the delivered date in the panel afterward. ### Needs review A shipment is flagged **Needs review** when something about it looks off. The reasons Mercora gives: | Reason | Meaning | | - | - | | Quantity exceeds 150,000 MT cap | The shipment's quantity is above 150,000 MT. Check it against the B/L. | | Quantity off contract by over 10% | The shipped quantity differs from the contract by more than 10%. | | Possible duplicate B/L number | Another shipment carries the same B/L number. | | Late B/L not confirmed by AIS | A B/L arrived late and the vessel's position history doesn't confirm it. | | AIS route doesn't match this B/L | The vessel's reported route doesn't match the ports on the B/L. | | Vessel not identified for AIS | Mercora couldn't identify the vessel to track it. | You can dismiss a flag once you've checked it. ## Vessel tracking > [!NOTE] > > Available when the **Vessel Tracking** module is turned on for your workspace. It is on by default and needs the Shipments tab on trades. Ask your workspace admin. Mercora follows each vessel's AIS position. AIS (Automatic Identification System) is the signal ships broadcast with their position, speed and heading. Positions are refreshed on a schedule. On a shipment page, **Refresh** checks now. The tracking line under the map reads, for example: the time of the last position report, speed in knots, heading, the next port, and the ETA the vessel reports. Other states you may see: * **No AIS fix**: no position is available for the vessel yet. * **Fix not matched to this B/L**: a position exists, but the vessel appears to be on a different voyage, so Mercora doesn't plot it. * **Not tracked · container B/L**: containers and vessels carrying containers aren't tracked individually. * **Tracking stopped · assumed delivered**: see below. Only positions Mercora trusts are drawn on the map. A shipment whose position can't be confirmed simply doesn't appear on it. **Statuses from tracking.** With Vessel Tracking on, Mercora can move a vessel's status forward (to Loading, In transit, Arrived or Delivered) from its port calls. It never moves a status backward. When a voyage is long overdue and the vessel shows no sign of either port, the shipment can be marked **Assumed delivered**. Real arrival evidence later promotes it to Delivered, and you can always change the status yourself. ## Next steps > **[Trade financials](https://docs.mercora.io/trades/financials.md)** > > Record the invoices and payments that settle the cargo. > **[Discrepancies](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/discrepancies.md)** > > Resolve differences between shipping documents and the record. > **[Trades](https://docs.mercora.io/trades/overview.md)** > > Go back to the trade page and its other tabs. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.