Chokepoint Report — week of 21 September 2026
Vessel movements through the world's maritime chokepoints, 21 September to 27 September 2026. Every transit below was detected from live AIS positions and screened against OFAC, EU, UN and UK sanctions lists.
3,828 transits recorded across 9 chokepoints. 71 involved a vessel on a sanctions list.
Traffic by chokepoint
No week-on-week comparison this issue. Our AIS coverage was materially lower in the previous week (44,393 position records this week against 14,725 the week before), so any percentage change would measure our own data collection rather than shipping activity. The counts below are what we observed; the comparison returns once both weeks are comparable.
| Chokepoint | Transits | Vessels | vs last week |
|---|---|---|---|
| English Channel | 1,322 | 1,191 | — |
| Strait of Malacca | 1,311 | 1,267 | — |
| Turkish Straits | 379 | 344 | — |
| Cape of Good Hope | 290 | 282 | — |
| Danish Straits | 259 | 249 | — |
| Panama Canal | 181 | 181 | — |
| Strait of Hormuz | 46 | 41 | — |
| Suez Canal | 29 | 29 | — |
| Bab el-Mandeb | 11 | 11 | — |
Sanctioned vessels
| Chokepoint | Transits | Distinct vessels |
|---|---|---|
| Danish Straits | 22 | 22 |
| Strait of Malacca | 19 | 18 |
| English Channel | 10 | 10 |
| Turkish Straits | 10 | 9 |
| Suez Canal | 7 | 7 |
| Strait of Hormuz | 3 | 3 |
Direction of travel
Through the English Channel: 719 northbound, 603 southbound.
Method: a transit is a vessel observed on one side of a strait and later on the other, with the strait itself — its lanes, anchorages, canal and terminal ports — counted as neither. Port calls and ferry crossings at the strait are not transits. Sanctions status is matched on IMO and MMSI against the published lists and refreshed daily. Figures are what we observed; AIS coverage is not complete, so treat them as a floor rather than a census. Figures published before 20 September 2026 used a looser definition and are not comparable.