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Shipping Chokepoint Monitor

Daily ship transits through the Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Bab el-Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz and 24 other chokepoints — compared with the same week last year, so disruptions stand out.

Suez Canal 41.3 ships/day -3% vs last year Normal Bab el-Mandeb Strait 28.9 ships/day -23% vs last year Below normal Cape of Good Hope 87.1 ships/day -8% vs last year Normal Panama Canal 28.7 ships/day -13% vs last year Below normal Strait of Hormuz 3.3 ships/day -97% vs last year Far below normal Malacca Strait 228 ships/day -4% vs last year Normal

All chokepoints

7-day average to 25 October 2026
ChokepointShips/day (7d)Last yearChangeStatus90 days
Suez Canal Egypt · Mediterranean ↔ Red Sea 41.3 42.7 -3% Normal
Panama Canal Panama · Atlantic ↔ Pacific 28.7 32.9 -13% Below normal
Bosporus Strait Turkey · Black Sea ↔ Mediterranean 53.7 101 -47% Far below normal
Bab el-Mandeb Strait Yemen / Djibouti · Red Sea ↔ Gulf of Aden 28.9 37.4 -23% Below normal
Malacca Strait Malaysia / Indonesia / Singapore · Indian Ocean ↔ South China Sea 228 237.1 -4% Normal
Strait of Hormuz Iran / Oman · Persian Gulf ↔ Gulf of Oman 3.3 102 -97% Far below normal
Cape of Good Hope South Africa · Atlantic ↔ Indian Ocean 87.1 94.3 -8% Normal
Strait of Gibraltar Spain / Morocco · Atlantic ↔ Mediterranean 116.4 127 -8% Normal
Dover Strait UK / France · English Channel ↔ North Sea 128.7 155.4 -17% Below normal
Øresund Strait Denmark / Sweden · Baltic access 42.9 43.9 -2% Normal
Taiwan Strait China / Taiwan · East China Sea ↔ South China Sea 190 151.7 +25% Above normal
Korea Strait South Korea / Japan 198.4 210.6 -6% Normal
Tsugaru Strait Japan · Honshu / Hokkaido 46.6 42.6 +9% Normal
Luzon Strait Taiwan / Philippines 62.3 94 -34% Far below normal
Lombok Strait Indonesia 40.1 34.6 +16% Above normal
Ombai Strait Indonesia / Timor-Leste 7.3 10.7 -32% Far below normal
Bohai Strait China · Bohai Sea entrance 164 166.3 -1% Normal
Torres Strait Australia / Papua New Guinea 8 8.4 -5% Normal
Sunda Strait Indonesia · Java / Sumatra 30.9 26.7 +16% Above normal
Makassar Strait Indonesia · Borneo / Sulawesi 58.6 47.4 +23% Above normal
Strait of Magellan Chile · Atlantic ↔ Pacific 4.3 3.3 +30% Above normal
Yucatán Channel Mexico / Cuba · Gulf of Mexico ↔ Caribbean 55.6 48.9 +14% Normal
Windward Passage Cuba / Haiti · Caribbean 15.1 12.6 +20% Above normal
Mona Passage Dominican Republic / Puerto Rico · Caribbean 13.6 15 -10% Below normal
Balabac Strait Philippines / Malaysia 12.4 9.9 +26% Above normal
Bering Strait Russia / USA · Pacific ↔ Arctic 2 2.6 -22% Below normal
Mindoro Strait Philippines 54.7 31 +76% Above normal
Kerch Strait Sea of Azov ↔ Black Sea 0.1 16 -99% Far below normal

Source: IMF PortWatch daily chokepoint transits, built from satellite AIS by the IMF and the University of Oxford. "Status" compares the 7-day average with the same 7 days a year earlier: more than 30% lower is far below normal, 10–30% lower below normal, 15% or more higher above normal.

Cargo on a ship heading through one of these? Track it free with Shyppy — live vessel position, carrier ETA and an alert when the arrival date moves. See also the port congestion index and the sea distance calculator to compare Suez and Cape routings.

Questions

What is a shipping chokepoint?

A narrow canal or strait that a large share of world shipping has to pass through, such as the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal, Bab el-Mandeb or the Strait of Hormuz. When traffic through one falls, ships take longer routes and freight rates, transit times and bunker costs go up.

How are transits counted?

IMF PortWatch counts every vessel that crosses each chokepoint per day from satellite AIS positions. Shyppy shows the average of the last 7 days and compares it with the same 7 days a year earlier, so the comparison is not distorted by seasons.

How up to date is the data?

PortWatch publishes daily with a lag of a few days. The latest day available is shown at the top of the page; Shyppy refreshes the data every day.

Is Suez traffic back to normal?

Compare the Suez Canal, Bab el-Mandeb and Cape of Good Hope rows: when ships divert around Africa, Suez and Bab el-Mandeb fall and the Cape rises. The year-on-year column shows the change against the same week last year.