Bab el-Mandeb & Red Sea
Bab el-Mandeb and Red Sea Shipping Data
The Bab el-Mandeb strait links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, making it a critical artery for global trade and energy flows. Every day, container ships, tankers, dry bulk carriers, general cargo vessels, and roll-on/roll-off ferries pass through this narrow corridor, connecting Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Disruptions here — whether from geopolitical tension, piracy, or weather — ripple instantly into freight rates, oil prices, and supply-chain schedules. FinzData's Global Macro Pulse provides daily transit counts and capacity by vessel type for the Bab el-Mandeb and Red Sea chokepoint since 2019, giving traders, economists, and data scientists a point-in-time view of exactly what the market knew each day.
Why this chokepoint matters
The Bab el-Mandeb sits at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, just 29 kilometers wide at its narrowest point. It handles a significant share of global seaborne oil trade and a large volume of containerized goods moving between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal. When transits slow or reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, the impact shows up in tanker earnings, bunker fuel demand, and inventory planning across industries. Daily data on vessel-type composition — container, dry bulk, tanker, general cargo, and ro-ro — lets you separate energy flows from manufactured-goods flows and spot shifts in real time.
- Oil and product tankers: track energy supply security
- Container ships: gauge manufactured-goods trade momentum
- Dry bulk: monitor commodity demand signals
- General cargo and ro-ro: capture niche and regional trade
What the data shows
FinzData's chokepoints dataset delivers daily transit counts and total deadweight capacity for each vessel category through the Bab el-Mandeb and Red Sea since 2019. Each row reflects what was known on that date — point-in-time, revision-aware — so backtests and event studies stay honest. You can aggregate to weekly or monthly frequency, compute rolling averages, or compare current levels to the same period in prior years. The series covers all five vessel types, enabling granular analysis of how different segments respond to shocks, seasonal patterns, or policy changes.
- Daily frequency, 2019 to present
- Five vessel-type breakdowns
- Transit counts and capacity (deadweight tonnes)
- Point-in-time snapshots for reproducible research
How to use it
Access the data through your FinzData API key with a simple GET request: GET https://api.finzdata.com/v1/pulse/chokepoints?match=bab-el-mandeb. The MCP tool get_global_pulse also surfaces this series for AI-assisted workflows — ask Claude, ChatGPT, or Grok with the FinzData connector. Combine with the ports dataset for origin-destination context, or with Asia tech exports to correlate chip-cycle demand with container throughput. The same key unlocks 16,000+ US stocks, 5,100+ ETFs, 139 futures markets, and 18,000+ macro series for cross-asset modeling.
- REST API with match filter for chokepoint name
- MCP tool
get_global_pulsefor AI assistants - Same key: equities, ETFs, futures, macro
- Point-in-time integrity for backtesting
Ask your AI
With the FinzData connector installed, you can ask your AI assistant questions like:
- Using FinzData, show me daily tanker transits through Bab el-Mandeb since 2023 and flag any drops exceeding 20% week-over-week.
- Using FinzData, compare container-ship capacity through the Red Sea chokepoint in 2024 versus 2022 and annotate major geopolitical events.
- Using FinzData, build a dashboard of all five vessel-type transit counts for Bab el-Mandeb with a 30-day rolling average.
Get the data
FinzData Global Macro Pulse gives you every chokepoints dataset, full history, and point-in-time integrity for a one-time $195. Single themes like Shipping, ports & cargo are $29, or $145 alongside another data purchase. Every API key includes the last 30 days free.
Try the last 30 days free. Add the Shipping, ports & cargo theme for $29 if you only need chokepoints and ports.
Frequently asked questions
What vessel types are covered?
Container ships, dry bulk carriers, tankers, general cargo vessels, and roll-on/roll-off ships — each with daily transit counts and capacity.
How far back does the data go?
Daily data starts in 2019 and continues to the present.
Is the data point-in-time?
Yes. Each row reflects what was known on that date, with no look-ahead bias, so backtests and event studies are reliable.
Can I combine this with other datasets?
Absolutely. The same API key provides ports, air traffic, road traffic, Asia tech exports, 16,000+ US stocks, 5,100+ ETFs, 139 futures markets, and 18,000+ macro series.