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THE STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE OF

GEOGRAPHICAL CHOKE POINTS

THE MASTER KEYS THAT CONTROL WORLD TRADE

With Inspiration from my dear friend Dr Shirish Bhave

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A Father was reading a magazine and his little daughter every now and then distracted him. To keep her busy, he tore one page on which was printed the map of the world. He tore it into pieces and asked her to go to her room and put them together to make the map again. He was sure she would take the whole day to get it done. But the little one came back within minutes with perfect map. When he asked how she could do it so quickly, she said, 'Oh Dad, there is a man's face on the other side of the paper. I made the face perfect to get the map right."" she ran outside to play leaving the father surprised..

Moral : There is always the other side to whatever we experience in this world. This story indirectly teaches a lesson..whenever we come across a challenge or a puzzling situation, look at the other side... You will be surprised to see an easy way to tackle the problem…

THE OTHER SIDE

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NADI CHIKITSHA

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THE HUMAN MERIDIANS

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THE HUMAN MERIDIANS

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THE PRIME MERIDIAN

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THE PRIME MERIDIAN

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THE PRIME MERIDIAN

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THE WORLD MAP

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THE GRAND CHESSBOARD

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DOG WITH CHOKE CHAIN

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THE CHOKE CHAIN

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THE 70:80:90 PRINCIPLE

70 % Water

80 % Population

90 % World Trade

Choke points are narrow international waterways where three characteristics are present.

1.The waterway should be narrow and capable of being closed off to both commercial and

military snipping.

2.There should be no readily available maritime route to utilize in the event of closure.

3.Finally, the choke point should be of considerable significance to at least several States.

There are seven “primary” choke points which seem to satisfy these criteria. These are

Gibraltar, Bab el Mandeb, Hormuz, the Danish and Turkish Straits, and the Suez and

Panama Canals. It also identifies eleven “secondary” choke points, where at least one of the

required characteristics is missing. The eleven include Dover, Bering and Magellan Straits,

as well as Malacca-Singapore and a number of others in the Western Pacific.

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CHOKE POINTS

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The most important naval choke points were first identified by John Arbuthnot Fisher in his defense of continued British colonialism (important colonies in parentheses):

1.Hormuz Strait between Oman and Iran at the entrance to the Persian Gulf (UAE)

2.Strait of Malacca between Singapore and Indonesia

3.Bab-el-Mandeb passage from the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea (Yemen and Socotra)

4.Panama Canal and the Panama Pipeline connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans

(British Honduras)

5.Suez Canal and the Sumed Pipeline connecting the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea

(Egypt)

6.The Turkish Straits/Bosporus linking the Black Sea (and oil coming from the Caspian

Sea region) to the Mediterranean Sea (Cyprus)

7.The Strait of Gibraltar (Gibraltar)

8.Cape Horn (Falklands)

9.The Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)

CHOKE POINTS

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THE WORLD MAP

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PANAMA CANAL

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PANAMA CANAL

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PANAMA CANAL

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The Panama Canal joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the Isthmus of

Panama in Central America. Running from Cristobal on Limon Bay, an arm of

the Caribbean Sea, to Balboa, on the Gulf of Panama, the canal is slightly

more than 64 km in length. Its operational characteristics involve a minimum

depth of 12.5 m and a minimum width of 91.5 m. Its construction ranks as one

of the engineering marvels of all time, since it averts a long detour around

South America, thus supporting the maritime flows of world trade. The

Panama Canal is strategically important to the United States because it is a

rapid link between the east and west coast, saving approximately 13 000 km

(from 21 000 km to 8000 km). It is comprised of three main elements, the

Gatun Locks (Atlantic Ocean access) the Gaillard Cut (continental divide) and

the Miraflores Locks (Pacific Ocean access).

PANAMA CANAL

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PANAMA CITY

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PANAMA CANAL

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THE NICARAGUA CANAL

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The Inter-Oceanic Nicaragua Canal is a proposed waterway that would connect

the Caribbean Sea, and therefore the Atlantic Ocean, with the Pacific Ocean

through Nicaragua, in Central America. Such a canal would follow rivers up to

Lake Nicaragua and then cut across the isthmus of Rivas to reach the Pacific.

At various times since the Panama Canal opened in 1914, the Nicaragua route

has been reconsidered. Its construction would shorten the water distance between

New York and San Francisco by nearly 800 kilometers (500 miles).

THE NICARAGUA CANAL

CAPE HORN

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CAPE HORN

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Cape Horn is the most southerly point of South America, and marks the northern

boundary of the Drake Passage; for many years it was a major milestone on the

clipper route, by which sailing ships carried trade around the world. However, the

waters around the Cape are particularly hazardous, owing to strong winds, large

waves, strong currents and icebergs; these dangers have made it notorious as a

sailors' graveyard.

The need for ships to round the Cape Horn was greatly reduced by the opening of

the Panama Canal in 1914. However, sailing around the Horn is widely regarded

as one of the major challenges in yachting. Thus, a few recreational sailors

continue to sail this route, sometimes as part of a circumnavigation of the globe,

and almost all of these choosing routes through the channels to the north of the

actual Cape.

CAPE HORN

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STRAIT OF MAGELLAN

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STRAIT OF MAGELLAN

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FALKLAND ISLANDS

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The Falkland Islands are an overseas territory of the United Kingdom in

the South Atlantic consisting of two main islands known as East Falkland

and West Falkland and a number of smaller islands. The capital Port

Stanley is on East Falkland.

Sovereignty of the islands is also claimed by Argentina where the islands

are known by their name in Spanish, Islas Malvinas. This name comes

from the French, Iles Malouines, so-called from when the islands were

briefly occupied by fishermen from St Malo. The Falkland Islands are

listed by the United Nations Committee on Decolonisation as one of the

16 Non-Self-Governing Territories of the world.

FALKLAND ISLANDS

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USHUAIA THE SOUTHERNMOST CITY IN THE WORLD

ROCK OF GIBRALTAR

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STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR

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The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow body of water between Spain and Morocco

that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. Upwards of 300

cargo vessels pass through the Strait every day. In spite of the heavy

concentration of shipping traffic and the noise caused by it, there is still an

abundance of whales and dolphins in these waters. The Rock is Crown property

of the United Kingdom, and borders Spain. The sovereignty of Gibraltar was

transferred from Spain to the Kingdom of Great Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht

in 1713 after the War of the Spanish Succession.

STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR

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ROCK OF GIBRALTAR

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STRAITS OF DOVER

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STRAITS OF DOVER

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The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel. The shortest distance across the strait is from the South Foreland, 6 kilometres (some 4 miles) northeast of Dover in the county of Kent, England, to Cap Gris Nez, a cape near to Calais in the French département of Pas-de-Calais, France.

Most maritime traffic between the Atlantic Ocean and the North and Baltic Seas passes through the Strait of Dover, rather than taking the longer and more dangerous route around the north of Scotland. The strait is the busiest international seaway in the world, used by over 400 commercial vessels daily. This has made safety a critical issue, with HM Coastguard maintaining a 24-hour watch over the strait and enforcing a strict regime of shipping lanes.

In addition to the intensive east-west traffic, the strait is criss-crossed from north to south by ferries linking Dover to Calais and Boulogne. Until the 1990s these provided the only ground-based route across it. The Channel Tunnel now provides an alternative route, crossing underneath the strait at an average depth of 45 m (150 feet) underneath the seabed. The town of Dover gives its name to one of the sea areas of the British Shipping Forecast.

STRAITS OF DOVER

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VIEW OF THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER FROM FRANCE

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THE DANISH STRAITS

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THE DANISH STRAITS

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The Danish straits are the three channels connecting the Baltic sea to the

North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. They transect Denmark, and are

not to be confused with the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland.

The three main passages are:

Great Belt, Danish: Storebælt

Little Belt, Danish: Lillebælt

Oresund, Danish: Øresund (Swedish: Öresund)

By closer view there are five straits named Belt (Danish: Bælt), the only ones in

the world, and several straits named Sound (Danish, Swedish, and German:

Sund). Where an Island is situated between a Belt and a Sound, typically the

broader strait is called Belt and the more narrow one is the Sound.

THE DANISH STRAITS

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COPENHAGEN

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BOSPORUS STRAIT

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BOSPORUS STRAIT

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Straits of Bosporus/Turkish Straits is a 17-mile-long waterway, which connects

the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea and supplies Western and Southern

Europe with oil from the Caspian Sea.

The strait is made up of the Bosporus and Dardanelles and divides Asia and

Europe. The Bosporus joins the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and the

Dardanelles connects the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean Sea. Straits of

Bosporus is the world's narrowest strait used for international navigation.

The Straits are governed under the Montreux Convention, which gives Turkey

control over the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. While Turkish maritime

authorities have the right to levy tolls on the passing tankers and is also

responsible to check ships for sanitary conditions and safety, the Bosporus and

Dardanelles Straits are considered international waterways, and Turkey is

prohibited from restricting their use during peace time.

BOSPORUS STRAIT

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ISTANBUL

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GREECE

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CYPRUS

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THE SUEZ CANAL

SUEZ CANAL

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The Suez Canal is located in Egypt, and connects the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez

with the Mediterranean Sea. The Canal is one of the world’s greatest engineering

feats covering 120 miles.

Oil shipments from the Persian Gulf travel through the Canal primarily to

European ports, but also to the United States. In 2006, an estimated 3.9 million

bbl/d of oil flowed northbound through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, while

0.6 million bbl/d travelled southbound into the Red Sea.

Over 3,000 oil tankers pass through the Suez Canal annually, and represent

around 25 percent of the Canal’s total revenues. With only 1,000 feet at its

narrowest point, the Canal is unable to handle large tankers. The Suez Canal

Authority (SCA) has discussed widening and deepening the Canal to

accommodate VLCCs and Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCC).

THE SUEZ CANAL

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The 200-mile long Sumed Pipeline, or Suez-Mediterranean Pipeline, also

provides a route between the Red and Mediterranean Seas by crossing the

northern region of Egypt from the Ain Sukhna to the Sidi Kerir Terminal. The

pipeline provides an alternative to the Suez Canal, and can transport 3.1

million bbl/d of crude oil. In 2006, nearly all of Saudi Arabia’s northbound

shipments (approximately 2.3 million bbl/d of crude) were transported through

the Sumed pipeline. The pipeline is owned by Arab Petroleum Pipeline Co., a

joint venture between EGPC, Saudi Aramco, AbuDhabi’s ADNOC, and

Kuwaiti companies.

Closure of the Suez Canal and the Sumed Pipeline would divert tankers

around the southern tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, adding 6,000 miles

to transit time.

THE SUEZ CANAL

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SUEZ CANAL

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CITY OF SUEZ

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THE DEAD SEA CANAL

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THE DEAD SEA CANAL

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THE DEAD SEA CANAL

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THE DEAD SEA CANAL

DEAD SEA CANAL

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The Two Seas Canal (colloquially known as the Dead–Red Canal)

is a proposed canal which would run from the Red Sea to the

Dead Sea and provide electricity and potable water to Jordan,

Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This proposal has a major role

in plans for economic cooperation between Israelis, Jordanians

and Palestinians, through the Peace Valley plan.

THE DEAD SEA CANAL

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CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

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The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of South Africa.

There is a very common misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, about 150 kilometres (90 mi) to the east-southeast. The Atlantic and Indian oceans meet at the point where the warm-water Agulhas current meets the cold-water Benguela current and turns back on itself – a point that fluctuates between Cape Agulhas and Cape Point, about one kilometre east of the Cape of Good Hope.When following the African coastline from the equator, however, the Cape of Good Hope marks the psychologically important point where one begins to travel more eastward than southward. Thus the first rounding of the cape in 1488 by Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias was a major milestone in the attempts by the Portuguese to establish direct trade relations with the Far East. He called the cape Cabo das Tormentas.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

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CAPE TOWN

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BAB – AL - MANDEB

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The Strait of Bab el-Mandab is a chokepoint between the horn of Africa and the

Middle East, and a strategic link between the Mediterranean Sea and Indian

Ocean. It is located between Yemen, Djibouti, and Eritrea, and connects the Red

Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. Exports from the Persian Gulf

must pass through Bab el-Mandab before entering the Suez Canal. In 2006, an

estimated 3.3 million bbl/d flowed through this waterway toward Europe, the

United States, and Asia. The majority of traffic, around 2.1 million bbl/d, flows

northbound through the Bab el-Mandab to the Suez/Sumed complex.

BAB – AL - MANDEB

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ADEN

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CITY OF ADEN

STRAIT OF HORMUZ

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The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between the Gulf of Oman in the

southeast and the Persian Gulf in the southwest. On the north coast is Iran (Persia)

and on the south is the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman.

Description: The narrowest section of the strait is only 21 miles wide, having two

one-milewide channels for marine traffic separated by a two-mile-wide buffer zone.

It is the only sea passage to the open ocean for several petroleum-exporting

Persian Gulf States.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ

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Since Oman, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates share the border around

the Straits, all three countries are crucial in fostering a secure environment

there. Oman and the UAE are among the key U.S. allies in the region. The

United States supplies both countries with most of their arms purchases,

including advanced fighter aircraft such as the F-15 and F- 16. In addition,

the United States has maintained a substantial naval carrier task force in the

Persian Gulf area.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ

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DUBAI

STRAIT OF MALACCA

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The Strait of Malacca is a narrow, 805 km (500 mile) stretch of water between

Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia) and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It

is named after the Empire of Melaka that ruled over the archipelago between

1414 to 1511. From an economic and strategic perspective the Strait of

Malacca is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.

The strait is the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the

Pacific Ocean, linking major Asian economies such as India, China, Japan and

South Korea. Over 50,000 vessels pass through the strait per year, carrying

about one-quarter of the world's traded goods including oil, Chinese

manufactures, and Indonesian coffee.

STRAIT OF MALACCA

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About a quarter of all oil carried by sea passes through the strait, mainly from

Persian Gulf suppliers to Asian markets such as China, Japan, and South

Korea. In 2006, an estimated 15 million barrels per day (2,400,000 m3/d) were

transported through the strait. The maximum size of a vessel that can make

passage through the Strait is referred to as Malaccamax.

The strait is not deep enough (at 25 metres or 82 feet) to permit some of the

largest ships (mostly oil tankers) to use it. A ship that exceeds Malaccamax

will typically use the Lombok Strait, Makassar Strait, Sibutu Passage and

Mindoro Strait instead. At Phillips Channel close to the south of Singapore, the

Strait of Malacca narrows to 2.8 km (1.5 nautical miles) wide, creating one of

the world's most significant traffic choke points.

STRAIT OF MALACCA

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SINGAPORE CITY

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LOMBAK STRAIT

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MAKASSAR STRAIT

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THE ISTHMUS OF KRA

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Proposed Isthmus of Kra Pipeline: A 320 km (193 mile) pipeline is proposed to

be built across the Ishmus of Kra in northern Malaysia from the Kedah state,

across Perak state, to northeastern Kelantan state. The pipeline is expected to

become operational in 2014, transporting about 20% of the oil currently

transiting the strait, and potentially cut three days off the journey from the

Middle East to China, Japan, and South Korea. Several proposals have been

submitted for the pipeline construction, one of which involves the construction

of a coastal refinery. However, in July 2007, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah

Ahmad Badawi instead retracted his decision and opted to examine the cost

and environmental impact of the proposed pipeline. Considering the difficulty of

laying pipeline across the northern mountain range and the high cost involved,

the probability of the pipeline project carrying through is debatable.

THE ISTHMUS OF KRA

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Thai Government Proposed Canal Via Isthmus of Kra (Thai Canal):

Throughout the course of its history dating back to King Narai the Great, the

Thai government has proposed to build a canal through the Isthmus of Kra.

The canal would shave off 1,200– 1,400 km, or one to three days, versus the

Strait of Malacca route. Compared with the Sunda route, the canal would cut

2,500–3,000 km (four to five days); or 3,000-3,500 km (five to seven days)

instead of Lombok. The Thai Canal is projected to take around five to seven

years to build at a cost of Bt650bn ($22 billion). Although the project has

received strong support from some Thai politicians, it remains somewhat

unlikely to proceed as hoped, given its high price and unfavorable

environmental impact.

THE ISTHMUS OF KRA

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THE INDIAN OCEAN RIM

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Admiral Timothy J Keating of the US military, Pacific Command (PACOM) has revealed that China offered to divide the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions between China and the US after Beijing launched its own fleet of aircraft carriers.

He added that the incident was disclosed to Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta during their meeting on Thursday May 15, 2009. The proposed “deal”envisaged that after China has its own aircraft carriers — it remains the only major naval power currently without such a capability — the Pacific region could be divided into two areas of responsibility.

“(The Chinese officer said) You, the US, take Hawaii East and we, China, will take Hawai West and the Indian Ocean. Then you will not need to come to the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean and we will not need to go to the Eastern Pacific. If anything happens there, you can let us know and if something happens here, we will let you know,” Keating recalled.

Source: Indian Express Fri May 15 2009

A STARTLING DISCLOSURE

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APPEARANCES CAN BE VERY DECEPTIVE

THE 90 : 10 RULE

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"Whoever controls the Indian Ocean dominates Asia. This ocean

is the key to the seven seas in the twenty-first century, the destiny

of the world will be decided in these waters."

Alfred Thayer Mahan

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THE WORLD MAP

Panama

Ushuaia

Cape Town

Copenhagen

Gibraltar

Istanbul

Suez 

Dubai

Aden Singapore

Dover