Chokepoint Report — week of 19 October 2026
Vessel movements through the world's maritime chokepoints, 19 October to 25 October 2026. Every transit below was detected from live AIS positions and screened against OFAC, EU, UN and UK sanctions lists.
3,405 transits recorded across 9 chokepoints. 69 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 (37,426 position records this week against 4,644 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strait of Malacca | 1,361 | 1,315 | — |
| English Channel | 924 | 837 | — |
| Turkish Straits | 427 | 386 | — |
| Danish Straits | 205 | 202 | — |
| Panama Canal | 199 | 199 | — |
| Cape of Good Hope | 170 | 170 | — |
| Suez Canal | 68 | 67 | — |
| Strait of Hormuz | 39 | 33 | — |
| Bab el-Mandeb | 12 | 11 | — |
Sanctioned vessels
| Chokepoint | Transits | Distinct vessels |
|---|---|---|
| Danish Straits | 20 | 20 |
| Turkish Straits | 18 | 15 |
| Suez Canal | 12 | 12 |
| English Channel | 8 | 8 |
| Strait of Malacca | 7 | 7 |
| Bab el-Mandeb | 2 | 2 |
| Panama Canal | 1 | 1 |
| Strait of Hormuz | 1 | 1 |
Direction of travel
Through the Strait of Malacca: 721 westbound, 640 eastbound.
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.