Bab-el-Mandeb is a strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, connecting it with the Gulf of Aden and, beyond that, the Indian Ocean. It forms the only maritime access point between the Red Sea and the open waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Its two shores belong to Yemen on the Arabian side and to Djibouti and Eritrea on the African side. Because of its position between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, it is one of the most closely watched maritime chokepoints in the world.
Name
The Arabic name, Bāb al-Mandab, is commonly rendered in English as "Gate of Tears". In English-language reference works it also appears as the Mandab Strait.
Physical geography
Published dimensions vary by source, partly because of differing measurement points. One agency-based account describes the strait as about 100 kilometres (62 miles) long and 30 kilometres (18 miles) wide. A general encyclopedic entry gives a length of 50 km, a minimum width of 26 km and an average depth of 186 m, while another reference gives a length of approximately 130 kilometers and a width of about 26-32 kilometers, with depths ranging from 30 to 323 meters.
The strait is divided by Perim Island. The western channel is 16 miles (26 km) across, and the eastern is 2 miles (3 km) wide. Sources disagree on which channel carries most traffic: one says the western channel is wider and accommodates most commercial traffic, whereas another identifies the eastern channel as the main shipping lane. The narrowest navigable gap, between Perim and the Yemeni mainland, is only about 1.5 NM wide. Depths differ between the transit lanes and local channels: in the narrow section, the depth of the strait mostly stays close to 200 metres or above, while local channels are much shallower, ranging from 10 to 31 metres.
The strait is geologically young. It is described as a rift subsidence strait, an inland sea-ocean type strait, and an intercontinental strait. The Red Sea lies over the Red Sea Rift, which is part of the Great Rift Valley, and the adjacent Gulf of Aden is widening by about 15 mm (0.59 in) per year because of tectonic activity along the Aden Ridge.
Legal status
Under the law of the sea, the strait sits between several exclusive economic zones: the Bab el-Mandeb connects the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Djibouti, Yemen and Somalia in the Gulf of Aden on the one hand, and the EEZs of Eritrea, Yemen, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt in the Red Sea on the other hand. Transit is governed by a transit passage regime across an area about 72 NM long. Two sections are particularly narrow, including one only approximately 4 NM wide between Eritrea and Yemen's Hanish Islands, where an alternative route through the Abu Ali Channel is at least 15.5-NM-wide.
Trade and energy
The strait is a key link in the route between Asian producers and European and American markets. Via the Suez Canal and the SUMED pipeline, most exports of petroleum and natural gas from the Persian Gulf pass through both the Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb together account for more than one quarter of seaborne crude oil and petroleum trade.
Estimates of oil flows differ by year and method. The US Energy Information Administration reported that an estimated 6.2 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil, condensate, and refined petroleum products flowed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in 2018, while for 2023 it put the share at 12 percent of world oil shipments in the first half of the year. By contrast, the International Energy Agency estimated flows of about 4.2 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum liquids per day in 2025, which it placed at about 5% of global production.
Container and bulk trade is also large. Nearly one-third of the world's container traffic passes through the Red Sea alone. Before the 2023 attacks, traffic through the Suez Canal was much higher: around 26,000 ships transited through the Suez Canal in 2023, but this fell to 12,700 by 2025, according to Suez Canal Authority figures.
Closure of the strait would not stop the Suez route entirely, but it would force a longer alternative. Tankers from the Persian Gulf would need to divert around the southern tip of Africa, which would increase transit time and shipping costs. Saudi Arabia has used the Red Sea as a bypass for Gulf exports; the Saudi port of Yanbu became a major outlet, with shipments rising from roughly 1 million to 4.9 million barrels of oil per day after Iranian restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz.
Piracy and Houthi attacks, 2023–2026
Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the strait escalated in late 2023. The Houthis, a military group that controls large parts of northern Yemen, have previously attacked shipping in the Red Sea, causing major disruption in late 2023 and 2024. The hijacking of the Galaxy Leader and a series of drone and missile attacks threatened global shipping routes, which led to the creation of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational naval effort involving ten nations. Major carriers responded by rerouting: several shipping companies decided to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and to re-route via the Cape of Good Hope.
The 2026 crisis is linked to the wider conflict with Iran. The latest Middle East war erupted on February 28 when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with strikes across the region. Iranian officials then threatened the strait directly: one official said Iran has both the will and the capability to pose a fully credible threat against it. The Houthi movement entered the conflict later, and on March 28, the Houthis entered the war, launching missiles towards Israel for the first time since the war with Iran began.
Traffic patterns shifted during the year. Early in 2026, Hormuz disruption initially triggered a rise in shipping through the Bab al Mandeb. After the Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia in July, one analysis found that vessel traffic through the Bab el Mandeb strait fell 24%, although transit volumes appear to have stabilised following the initial decline. Attacks continued into August: the Houthis used two ballistic missiles on the Egyptian cargo ship Tihamah in the Bab al Mandeb Strait on August 11, in which four sailors were killed, while Yemen's internationally recognised government put the death toll at at least six people and wounded 10 others. In September, reports described a Houthi takeover of Perim Island and Yemen's coastline. The group has also denied plans to charge ships for transit, saying passage through the waterway remains free.
Assessments of the situation diverge. One September 2026 analysis reports a recovery in transit volume, while a Congressional Research Service update cited in the same piece describes passage through the strait as remained at a fraction of what it had been.
Limits of control and data
The strait cannot be sealed in the way some other chokepoints can. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait can't be "closed" entirely. Its narrowest point is still a considerably wide waterway. Unlike the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is not a "cul-de-sac", where the passage is closed at one end with only one way out. Public data on the cargo passing through the strait is also limited. Detailed data on what passes through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is somewhat limited. Because of this, flow estimates from different agencies and analysts are not directly comparable.
Historical and cultural context
Historically, the Gulf of Aden was part of what the ancient Greeks regarded as one of the most important parts of the "Erythraean Sea". In modern times, the strait's strategic value has come mainly from its control over maritime movement between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. It's the key to the control of almost all shipping between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal.
References
- What is the Bab el-Mandeb Strait?windward.ai
- Bab al-Mandeb Strait: another key shipping route under threat - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012al-monitor.com
- Bab-el-Mandeben.wikipedia.org
- Bab El-Mandeb（A strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.）_Baiduwikibaike.baidu.com
- Bab-El-Mandabarchive.unescwa.org
- Maritime Security Threats and the Passage Regime in the Bab el-Mandebsite.uit.no
- Red Seaen.wikipedia.org
- Gulf of Adenen.wikipedia.org
- The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a strategic route for oil and natural gas shipments - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)eia.gov
- Houthis seize key Yemeni island in Bab el-Mandeb, taking control of the straiteuronews.com
- U.S. Energy Information Administration logoeia.gov
- Why a second global shipping chokepoint could soon live up to its name as the ‘Gate of Tears’theconversation.com
- Houthi Leverage over the Red Sea Escalates Threats for Africaafricacenter.org
- Hijacking of the Galaxy Leaderen.wikipedia.org
- The Houthis, Bab el-Mandeb, and Maritime Transport • The Red Team Analysis Societyredanalysis.org
- Bab al-Mandeb Strait: another key shipping route under threatfrance24.com
- Red Sea Brief: 6 August 2026lloydslistintelligence.com
- Six killed in Houthi attack on Bab al-Mandeb ship, Yemen’s government saysaljazeera.com
- Yemen’s Houthis deny plan to charge ships transiting Red Seaaljazeera.com
- Why the 'Bab el Mandeb' plays an outsized role in human historynationalgeographic.com
- Arab Newsarabnews.com
- Red Sea shipping slows after Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabiathehill.com