The world's maritime chokepoints
A chokepoint is a narrow sea passage that ships cannot easily go around. When one closes, ships have to wait or sail thousands of kilometers around it. The map shows nine of them, plus the Cape of Good Hope, the long way around Africa that ships take when they avoid the Suez Canal.
Bab el-Mandeb
Bosphorus
Cape of Good Hope
Danish straits
Panama Canal
Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Hormuz
Strait of Malacca
Suez Canal
Taiwan Strait
Which chokepoints are open right now?
All ten are open to some ships, but only five run normally. Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on February 28, 2026. Since May, tankers have crossed again under US protection, while Iran still attacks ships. Houthi attacks have cut traffic through Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal since late 2023. Russian and Ukrainian strikes on ships in the Black Sea have cut traffic through the Bosphorus since July 2026. A drought limits ships through the Panama Canal.
| Chokepoint | Status | Ships a day | vs 2023 | 2023 to 2026 | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Strait of HormuzIran and OmanDisrupted |
DisruptedTankers cross under US protection; Iran still attacks ships | 4 | −96% | ||
 Bab el-MandebYemen, Djibouti and EritreaDisrupted |
DisruptedHouthis hold the Yemeni shore and attack Saudi-linked ships | 26 | −65% | ||
 BosphorusTurkeyDisrupted |
DisruptedRussian and Ukrainian strikes on Black Sea shipping | 52 | −46% | ||
 Suez CanalEgyptDisrupted |
DisruptedTraffic is recovering but still well below 2023 | 40 | −45% | ||
 Panama CanalPanamaRestricted |
RestrictedDrought limits, easing from October 15 | 28 | −7% | ||
 Strait of GibraltarSpain, Morocco and Gibraltar (UK)Open |
Open | 133 | −9% | ||
 Taiwan StraitChina and TaiwanOpen |
Open | 232 | −3% | ||
 Danish straitsDenmark and SwedenOpen |
Open | – | |||
 Strait of MalaccaMalaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and ThailandOpen |
Open | 220 | 0% | ||
 Cape of Good HopeSouth AfricaOpen |
Open | 86 | +76% |
Ships a day: cargo ships and tankers, the average of the four weeks to September 27, 2026, against the 2023 average. IMF PortWatch. PortWatch has no count for the Danish straits.
Which chokepoint carries the most trade?
The Strait of Malacca. By IMF PortWatch estimates, ships carried about 3 billion tonnes of cargo through it in the last 12 months, more than through any other chokepoint. Since January 2024, more cargo has gone around the Cape of Good Hope than through the Suez Canal.
Measured by value, the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates that the Strait of Malacca and the Taiwan Strait each carried about 21% of the world's maritime trade in 2024. The figure of half that is often quoted for the Taiwan Strait counts ships, not trade. In 2022, a Bloomberg analysis found that almost half of the world's container ships had sailed through the Taiwan Strait in the first seven months of that year.
Cargo through each chokepoint
2023Last 12 monthsWhich chokepoint carries the most oil?
The Strait of Malacca. In the first half of 2025 it carried 23.2 million barrels a day, and the Strait of Hormuz was second with 20.9 million.
The war with Iran changed the order. In April to June 2026, the US Energy Information Administration estimates that 4.9 million barrels a day went through Hormuz. Malacca still carried the most, 16.6 million, followed by the Cape of Good Hope with 9.4 million and Bab el-Mandeb with 8.1 million, as Saudi Arabia shipped more oil from its Red Sea coast.