The World's Maritime Chokepoints
Live vessel traffic at the straits and canals that world trade squeezes through — with every ship screened against OFAC, EU, UN and UK sanctions lists in real time. Sanctioned vessels flagged in red. Free, no login.
Pick a chokepoint
Each chokepoint below has its own free live map, showing every vessel with an active AIS signal in that corridor and screening it against the sanctions lists as it moves. One exception: the Kerch Strait is effectively AIS-dark, so it has a background page rather than a live feed.
What is a maritime chokepoint?
A maritime chokepoint is a narrow strait or canal that a large share of the world's seaborne trade has to pass through, with no easy detour close at hand. Because a wide shipping lane funnels into a tight corridor, traffic — tankers, container ships, bulk carriers — concentrates into a handful of miles of water. A relatively small number of these passages carry a disproportionate slice of global oil, gas and container flows.
That concentration is exactly why chokepoints matter. Congestion or an accident in one — a grounding in the Suez Canal, drought limiting transits at Panama — can ripple across supply chains worldwide. They are also where geopolitical pressure lands hardest: the threat of a blockade, naval tension, or the risk that a vessel is moving sanctioned cargo. Chokepoints are a common setting for sanctions-evasion tactics, including ship-to-ship transfers and vessels that go dark by switching off their AIS transponders, which is one reason live traffic here is worth watching.
Not every chokepoint can be watched the same way. Some, like the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, are effectively AIS-dark — vessels routinely transit without a usable public signal — so a live map there would show far less than what is actually moving. Where that is the case we say so rather than imply a complete picture.
Frequently asked questions
What is a maritime chokepoint?
A maritime chokepoint is a narrow strait or canal that a large share of the world's seaborne trade must pass through, with no easy alternative nearby. Because the shipping lane funnels into a tight corridor, a chokepoint concentrates traffic — and with it the risk of congestion, accidents, blockade, and sanctions-evasion activity such as ship-to-ship transfers or vessels that switch off their AIS transponders.
Which are the world's most important shipping chokepoints?
The chokepoints most often cited as critical to global trade include the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, the Strait of Malacca linking the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, the Suez Canal and Bab el-Mandeb on the Europe–Asia route, the Turkish and Danish Straits serving the Black Sea and Baltic, the Panama Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific, and the Strait of Gibraltar and English Channel in and out of the Mediterranean and North Sea. Strait Up Maritime publishes a free live vessel map for each.
Can I see sanctioned ships transiting these chokepoints?
Yes. Each live chokepoint map screens the vessels it shows against OFAC, EU, UN and UK sanctions lists and flags any that match in red. Screening reflects the lists as we hold them and can lag official updates, so for any compliance decision you should verify a match against the issuing authority's own record.
Is it free?
Yes. The live chokepoint maps are free to use and require no login. Deeper detail — vessel voyage history, ownership chain, draught and cargo inference, and full sanctions context — sits behind a paid plan at Strait Up Maritime.