CHOKEPOINTS IN

SEA
TRANSPORTATION

Adopted from: 1
https://worldgeographycylakes.wikispaces.com/.../cfisd+CHOKEPOINTS...
 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.

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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?
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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?
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Chokepoints or
bottlenecks?
Why do people
choke?
Sometimes its
because
something too
large got stuck
in their throat.
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 Chokepoints
Its 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.

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 Chokepoints

I have the
power.
I control the
chokepoint.
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 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.

http:www.bikeabout.otg/journal/notes_96.h
tm 8
 Chokepoints
A chokepoint is a
strategic strait or
canal which could be
Suez
Strait of
Hormuz
closed or blocked to
Canal stop sea traffic.
The Suez Canal and
the Straits of Hormuz
(pictured on the
map) are examples of
chokepoints.

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 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 10
http://www.standto.com/qorsuez.html
the Suez Peninsula.
 The Suez Canal was
SUEZ CANAL 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?

http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/c 11
h1en/conc1en/suez.html
 SUEZ CANAL
Mediterranean Sea
The Suez Canal
brought a new era
of European
influence in Pacific
Suez Canal
Asia by reducing
the journey from
Asia to Europe by
about 65,000 km.
The region became
Re
d commercially
Se accessible and
a
colonial trade
expanded. 12
 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.

http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/c
h5en/conc5en/suezconstr.html
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IMPACT OF THE SUEZ CANAL
Shortened the route around Africa by
4,000 miles.

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

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 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.

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.
Tonnage shipped jumped from
500,000 tons to 3,500,000 tons in ten
years after the Suez Canal opened.

17
 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.

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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 19
OIL DEPENDENCY

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 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.
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22
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.

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Click on each of the tankers for
information about the chokepoint.

After you have

visited each of
the
chokepoints,
click on this
button. 24
.
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.

http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/
A third of the cargo is
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oil.
 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 26
http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/
 STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Critical point in the lifeline flow of oil from the
Persian Gulf area. A quarter of the worlds oil
supply passes through this strait. 15.5 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 Indianhttp://geography.about.com/library/weekly/
Ocean

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 Strait of
Hormuz
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/choke.h
tml

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

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http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/choke.
html

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 Strait of Malacca

http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/

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.)
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More than 50,000 ships pass through this strait
 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
http://geography.about.com/library/weekly
widened
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Barrels of Oil Transported
through Chokepoints Daily

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