1. CHOKEPOINTS IN SEA TRANSPORTATION
Adopted from:

2. What are chokepoints?
Hint: In your history class they might be called “bottlenecks.”
But geographers call them “chokepoints.”
Now, take a minute and imagine what a chokepoint or a bottleneck might look like.

3. Chokepoints or bottlenecks?
Have you ever had trouble getting catsup out of the bottle? What caused the trouble? Was it partially caused by trying to get something too thick through too small a place?

4. Chokepoints or bottlenecks?
Have you ever wondered how they got those ships into those bottles?
How does something that big go through the narrow space at the top of the bottle?

5. Chokepoints or bottlenecks?
Why do people choke?
Sometimes it’s because something too large got stuck in their throat.

6. Chokepoints
It’s just the same when people try to transport goods around the world.
Sometimes countries are trading one good for another.
Sometimes countries are transporting soldiers or armaments to battle sites.
The control of these narrow passageways is critical. Whoever has the control is in power.

7. Chokepoints
I have the power.
I control the chokepoint.

8. Corinth Canal (Greece)
There are approximately 200 straits ( narrow bodies of water connecting two larger bodies of water) around the world, but only a handful are known as chokepoints.

9. Chokepoints
A chokepoint is a strategic strait or canal which could be closed or blocked to stop sea traffic.
The Suez Canal and the Straits of Hormuz (pictured on the map) are examples of chokepoints.
Strait of Hormuz
Suez Canal

10. CHOKEPOINTS OR BOTTLENECKS ?
With the rise of industrial Europe and seaborne trade, entrepreneurs thought of building a canal to connect the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea directly, thus saving time either from sailing around Africa or transporting freight across the Suez Peninsula.

11. SUEZ CANAL
The Suez Canal was completed in 1869 under the leadership of a French company under de Lesseps. European capital (money) built it and operated it.
Why would European companies be willing to fund the building of the canal? How would it make them more competitive?

12. SUEZ CANAL
Mediterranean Sea
The Suez Canal brought a new era of European influence in Pacific Asia by reducing the journey from Asia to Europe by about 65,000 km. The region became commercially accessible and colonial trade expanded.
Suez Canal
Red Sea

13. Chokepoints
The Suez Canal is only 101 miles long but was built across the Egyptian desert. It is one of the most significant maritime “shortcuts” ever built by man.
Construction of the Suez Canal

14. IMPACT OF THE SUEZ CANAL
Shortened the route around Africa by 4,000 miles.

15. SUEZ CANAL Shortened the route around Africa by 4,000 miles.
Saved two weeks of shipping time.

16. SUEZ CANAL Shortened the route around Africa by 4,000 miles.
Saved two weeks of shipping time.
If you can shorten your shipping time, you can ship more items in the same amount of time that it used to take.

17. SUEZ CANAL Shortened the route around Africa by 4,000 miles.
Saved two weeks of shipping time.
If you can shorten your shipping time, you can ship more items in the same amount of time that it used to take.
Tonnage shipped jumped from 500,000 tons to 3,500,000 tons in ten years after the Suez Canal opened.

18. This allowed the Europeans to take a greater interest in the Asian markets than ever before.
British control of the canal was viewed as the “Lifeline of the Empire” because it allowed the British quicker access to the colonies in Asia and Africa.

19. Strait of Gibraltar Has long been fought over
Has been held by the Phoenicians, Romans, Visigoths, and the Moslems
The British won the Battle of Trafalgar defeating Napoleon

20. OIL DEPENDENCY

21. OIL DEPENDENCY
For the past 50 years, one of the main sources of energy used by developed and developing nations has been oil.
For nations with little of this resource, disruption of the availability of oil or a large price increase, causes economic or political problems.
On your paper, write down two effects of closing a chokepoint.

23. SECURING THE SUPPLY: STRATEGIC POINTS OF CONCERN
For centuries, straits such as Gibraltar have been protected by international law.
In 1982, the Law of Sea Conventions further protected the international access for nations to sail through straits and canals.

24. Click on each of the tankers for information about the chokepoint.
After you have visited each of the chokepoints, click on this button.

25. Suez Canal .
It is the only sea route between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
With the Middle East tension, the Suez Canal is a prime target for many nations. In 1967, the Arab-Israeli War shut down the canal for 8 years.
A third of the cargo is oil.

26. BAB el MANDEB .
Bottleneck for traffic between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean
3.2 million barrels of oil daily move through this chokepoint.
All the nations along the Red Sea are Islamic and the rulers of Sudan are backed by Iran.

27. STRAIT OF HORMUZ Closely monitored by the U.S. military and its allies
Critical point in the lifeline flow of oil from the Persian Gulf area. A quarter of the world’s oil supply passes through this strait million barrels of oil a day pass through.
Closely monitored by the U.S. military and its allies
Connects the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea (part of the Indian Ocean

28. Strait of Hormuz

29. THE BOSPORUS STRAIT Joins the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara

31. Strait of Malacca
Tankers pass through this strait bordered by Indonesia and Malaysia.
Located in the Indian Ocean, this strait is a shortcut for oil tankers traveling between the Middle East and the oil-dependent nations of the Pacific Rim (especially Japan.)
More than 50,000 ships pass through this strait yearly.

32. Panama Canal
Connects the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean
0.5 million barrels of oil go through it daily
Needs to be widened

33. Barrels of Oil Transported through Chokepoints Daily

34. Let’s recap what we know about chokepoints.
A chokepoint is a strategic strait or canal which could be closed or blocked to stop sea traffic.
The Suez Canal and the Straits of Hormuz (pictured on the map) are examples of chokepoints.
Strait of Hormuz
Suez Canal

35. If a chokepoint is closed, it affects world trade patterns, the economy and politics.
That can lead to higher prices and/or war.
Keeping these straits or chokepoints open is very important.
The control of these narrow passageways is critical. Whoever has the control is in power.