Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and Red Sea as a Maritime Chokepoint

The Bab-el-Mandeb is a narrow strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. It lies between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African side (the Horn of Africa). It joins the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. Together with the Suez Canal at the northern end of the Red Sea, it forms the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe.

Why does it matter?

Picture the Red Sea as a long corridor with a door at each end: the Suez Canal in the north (Egypt) and the Bab-el-Mandeb in the south. If either door is blocked, ships from India to Europe must go all the way around Africa, by the Cape of Good Hope. That detour adds about 3,500 nautical miles and roughly 10 to 14 days to a voyage, raising fuel, insurance and freight costs.

A place like this, where a lot of world trade squeezes through a narrow gap, is called a maritime chokepoint.

Where exactly is it, and how narrow?

• The name is Arabic and is usually translated as "Gate of Grief" (or "Gate of Tears"), probably because of its dangerous waters.
• At its narrowest, between Ras Menheli (Yemen) and Ras Siyyan (Djibouti), it is about 26 to 29 km wide (sources round it differently).
• Perim Island (part of Yemen) splits it into two channels: a narrow, shallow eastern channel (Bab Iskender, about 5 km wide) and a wider, deeper western channel (Dact-el-Mayun, about 20 km wide and about 300 m deep), which big ships use.

Where did its importance come from?

• 1869: The Suez Canal opened, linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. From then on, Bab-el-Mandeb became a key gateway for Europe-Asia trade.
• 1967 to 1975: The Suez Canal stayed closed after the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, forcing ships around Africa. This showed how costly the loss of this route can be.
• 2008 onwards: Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden led many navies, including the Indian Navy (since October 2008), to deploy warships for anti-piracy patrols.
• November 2023 onwards: Yemen's Houthi armed group began attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea after the Gaza conflict started. In November 2023 they seized the car carrier Galaxy Leader. Most big container lines stopped using the route, and traffic through the Suez Canal fell by more than half at the peak.
• Naval responses: The US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian (announced 18 December 2023) and the European Union's defensive mission Operation Aspides (2024) tried to protect ships. The Indian Navy also deployed warships in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to secure shipping.

The key facts and numbers

• Roughly 10% of world seaborne trade passes through the Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Suez Canal handles around 12% of global trade (estimates vary by measure).
• Oil flows through the strait were about 6.2 million barrels per day in 2018 (about 9% of seaborne-traded petroleum in 2017), going both north to Europe and south to Asia.
• Djibouti, on its western shore, hosts many foreign military bases, including the US Camp Lemonnier, China's first overseas military base (opened 2017), and bases of France, Japan and Italy. This shows how much big powers value this chokepoint.

India's position and stakes

• A large part of India's merchandise trade with Europe, North Africa and the US east coast normally goes through the Red Sea and Suez route. Some estimates put the share of India's trade with Europe and the UK using this route at over 80%.
• During the 2023-24 Red Sea crisis, Indian exporters faced sharply higher freight rates, longer delivery times and costlier insurance. Exporters of low-margin goods like rice, textiles and engineering items were hit hardest.
• India gets crude oil from suppliers whose cargoes may use the Red Sea, so disruptions there affect India's energy security too.
• India's naval presence in the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea is part of its role as a "first responder" and security provider in the Indian Ocean Region.
• The planned India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), announced in 2023, would create a partly land-based route from India to Europe that avoids the Red Sea and Suez.

Commonly confused concepts

• Bab-el-Mandeb vs Strait of Hormuz: Bab-el-Mandeb joins the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden (between Yemen and Djibouti/Eritrea). Hormuz joins the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman (between Iran and Oman). Hormuz carries far more oil; Bab-el-Mandeb matters more for container trade to Europe.
• Bab-el-Mandeb vs Suez Canal: The Suez Canal is a man-made canal in Egypt at the northern end of the Red Sea. Bab-el-Mandeb is a natural strait at the southern end.
• Gulf of Aden vs Gulf of Oman: The Gulf of Aden lies between Yemen and Somalia, south of Bab-el-Mandeb. The Gulf of Oman lies between Oman and Iran, outside Hormuz.
• Strait vs canal vs isthmus: A strait is a natural narrow sea passage between two land masses. A canal is dug by humans. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land joining two larger land areas (for example, the Isthmus of Suez, through which the canal was dug).

Issues, criticism and the way forward

• Non-state threats: The danger here comes not only from countries but from armed groups using drones and missiles, which are cheap to fire and costly to defend against.
• Limits of naval escorts: Even large naval missions could not fully restore normal traffic during the 2023-25 attacks, because shipping companies and insurers avoid risk.
• Costs passed to consumers: Higher freight and insurance raise the price of imports and reduce the competitiveness of exports.
• Way forward for India: diversify trade and energy routes (IMEC, more suppliers), keep a strong naval presence in the western Indian Ocean, build more Indian-owned shipping capacity, and support diplomatic efforts for stability in Yemen and the wider region.

Concepts to Know

• Maritime chokepoint: A narrow sea passage that a large share of world shipping must pass through, so blocking it can disrupt global trade.
• Nautical mile: A unit of distance at sea, equal to about 1.85 km.
• Freight rate: The price a shipping company charges to carry goods, often quoted per container.
• Houthis: An armed political group from northern Yemen that controls much of the country's west, including the Red Sea coast near the strait.
• Horn of Africa: The pointed part of north-east Africa that sticks out into the Arabian Sea, including Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia.