Chokepoint Report — week of 28 September 2026
Vessel movements through the world's maritime chokepoints, 28 September to 4 October 2026. Every transit below was detected from live AIS positions and screened against OFAC, EU, UN and UK sanctions lists.
3,690 transits recorded across 9 chokepoints. 74 involved a vessel on a sanctions list.
Traffic by chokepoint
No week-on-week comparison this issue. Our AIS coverage was materially lower this week (9,166 position records this week against 44,933 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 | 1,492 | 1,438 | — |
| English Channel | 1,186 | 1,073 | — |
| Turkish Straits | 273 | 257 | — |
| Cape of Good Hope | 266 | 266 | — |
| Danish Straits | 225 | 225 | — |
| Panama Canal | 184 | 184 | — |
| Strait of Hormuz | 51 | 45 | — |
| Bab el-Mandeb | 13 | 13 | — |
Sanctioned vessels
| Chokepoint | Transits | Distinct vessels |
|---|---|---|
| Strait of Malacca | 26 | 26 |
| Danish Straits | 16 | 16 |
| English Channel | 16 | 15 |
| Turkish Straits | 11 | 11 |
| Strait of Hormuz | 4 | 4 |
| Panama Canal | 1 | 1 |
Direction of travel
Through the Strait of Malacca: 891 westbound, 601 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.