Updated Sep 11

Shipping chokepoints: how many ships are getting through

Almost every ocean route runs through a handful of narrow canals and straits, so when one of them is disrupted your cargo feels it as a longer voyage, a diversion or a surcharge. This counts the ships transiting each one, this week against its usual level, with links to the authorities that publish the warnings.

Ships a day transiting each shipping chokepoint over the last seven days, against the 90-day average
ChokepointAll ships a day, last 7 days90-day averageContainer ships a day, last 7 daysHow it is runningOfficial warnings
Taiwan Strait232237.987.7Running in line with the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Korea Strait216.6216.859.3Running in line with the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Malacca Strait216219.158.9Running in line with the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories, IMB Piracy Reporting Centre
Dover Strait172.6157.733.9Running about 9% above the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Bohai Strait147.7156.616.1Running about 6% below the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Gibraltar Strait130.713031.1Running in line with the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Luzon Strait99.19113.3Running about 9% above the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Cape of Good Hope89.491.117.1Running in line with the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Mindoro Strait54.752.52.7Running in line with the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories, IMB Piracy Reporting Centre
Bosporus Strait53.468.27.3Running about 22% below the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Makassar Strait5252.61.9Running in line with the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories, IMB Piracy Reporting Centre
Yucatan Channel50.353.49.1Running about 6% below the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Tsugaru Strait49.953.413.6Running about 7% below the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Suez Canal39.441.310Running about 5% below the 90-day average.UKMTO warnings and advisories, US MARAD maritime advisories
Lombok Strait38.935.80.3Running about 9% above the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories, IMB Piracy Reporting Centre
Oresund Strait36.939.83.9Running about 7% below the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Sunda Strait31.632.54Running in line with the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories, IMB Piracy Reporting Centre
Panama Canal3030.67.1Running in line with the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Bab el-Mandeb Strait25.931.15.3Running about 17% below the 90-day average.UKMTO warnings and advisories, US MARAD maritime advisories
Windward Passage14.115.87.9Running about 11% below the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Mona Passage10.711.34.1Running about 5% below the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Balabac Strait9.311.41Running about 18% below the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories, IMB Piracy Reporting Centre
Ombai Strait99.71Running about 7% below the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories, IMB Piracy Reporting Centre
Torres Strait8.48.41.6Running in line with the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Magellan Strait6.45.50.1Running about 16% above the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Strait of Hormuz59.40.1Running about 47% below the 90-day average.UKMTO warnings and advisories, US MARAD maritime advisories
Bering Strait4.72.30.1Running about 104% above the 90-day average.US MARAD maritime advisories
Kerch Strait03.20No ships transited in the last seven days.US MARAD maritime advisories

How to read this

A transit is counted when a ship passes through the chokepoint, so the number is traffic, not delay. Traffic well below the usual level normally means ships are going another way — the long way round the Cape of Good Hope instead of the Suez Canal, for instance — which costs days, not hours. Traffic above it normally means they are coming back.

Airlift is an NVOCC and does not issue security or routing advice. The warnings for each area are published by the maritime authorities linked in the table: US MARAD maritime advisories, UKMTO warnings and advisories, IMB Piracy Reporting Centre.

Source: IMF PortWatch, satellite AIS estimates, updated weekly. Port calls and chokepoint transits are estimates derived from AIS signals, not carrier or terminal records. They show how busy a place has been, not berth time, dwell time or congestion. Latest data Sep 11, from the IMF PortWatch data and methodology pages.

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