Editing Bab-el-Mandeb (section)

== Significance in the maritime trade route ==
The Bab-el-Mandeb acts as a strategic link between the [[Indian Ocean]] and the [[Mediterranean Sea]] via the Red Sea and the [[Suez Canal]].  Most exports of petroleum and natural gas from the Persian Gulf that transit the Suez Canal or the [[Sumed pipeline|SUMED Pipeline]] pass through both the Bab el-Mandeb and the [[Strait of Hormuz]].<ref name="EIA">{{cite web |title=The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a strategic route for oil and natural gas shipments |url=https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=41073 |website=www.eia.gov |access-date=November 10, 2023 |language=en |date=August 27, 2019}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> While the narrow width of the strait requires vessels to travel through the [[territorial sea]] of adjacent states, under the purview of Article 37 of the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]], the legal concept of [[transit passage]] applies to Bab el-Mandeb, although Eritrea (unlike the rest of coastal countries) is not a party to the convention.<ref>{{Cite book|publisher=[[Brill (publisher)|Brill]]|isbn=9789004509368|year=2022|pages=117–118|chapter-url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004509368/BP000008.xml|chapter=Iran-Israel ‘Shadow War’ in Waters around the Arabian Peninsula and Incidents near the Bab el-Mandeb|title=Hybrid Threats and the Law of the Sea|first=Alexander|last=Lott}}</ref>

Chokepoints are narrow channels along widely used global sea routes that are critical to global energy security. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is {{convert|26|km|nmi|abbr=off}} wide at its narrowest point, limiting tanker traffic to two 2-mile-wide channels for inbound and outbound shipments.<ref name="EIA"/><ref name="EB 1878, 179" />

Closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could keep tankers originating in the Persian Gulf from transiting the Suez Canal or reaching the SUMED Pipeline, forcing them to divert around the southern tip of Africa, which would increase transit time and shipping costs.

In 2006, an estimated {{convert|3.3|Moilbbl|m3}} of oil passed through the strait per day, out of a world total of about {{convert|43|Moilbbl/d|m3/d}} moved by [[Tanker (ship)|tankers]].<ref name="chokepoints">[http://www.eia.gov/countries/regions-topics.cfm?fips=wotc&trk=p3 World Oil Transit Chokepoints] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218222232/http://www.eia.gov/countries/regions-topics.cfm?fips=wotc&trk=p3|date=February 18, 2015}}, Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy</ref> This rose by 2014 to  5.1 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil, condensate and refined petroleum products headed toward Europe, the United States, and Asia, then an estimated 6.2 million b/d by 2018. Total petroleum flows through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait accounted for about 9% of total seaborne-traded petroleum (crude oil and refined petroleum products) in 2017. About 3.6 million b/d moved north toward Europe; another 2.6 million b/d flowed in the opposite direction mainly to Asian markets such as Singapore, China, and India.<ref name="EIA"/>