Bab el-Mandeb
The Bab el-Mandeb strait, its Large and Small Strait channels either side of Perim, and the Red Sea rerouting that cut its oil flow by more than half.
Bab el-Mandeb is the southern gate of the Red Sea and the link between the Suez route and the Indian Ocean. The island of Perim divides it into two straits: NGA Sailing Directions describe Large Strait between the African shore and the island, and Small Strait between the island and the Arabian shore, and recommend Large Strait because many casualties have occurred in Small Strait. An IMO-adopted traffic separation scheme lies in the strait with a precautionary area at its northern entrance.
Oil flow through the strait fell from 9.3 million barrels per day in 2023 to 4.1 million in 2024 and 4.2 million in the first half of 2025, as attacks on shipping pushed operators onto the Cape of Good Hope routing. Liquefied natural gas flow fell to zero over the same period.
The full article will cover the geography and the channels, the Article 38(1) question that Perim’s position raises under the law of the sea, the flow series and the rerouting economics, and the war-risk listing history that tracks the crisis.