Major Sea Routes

Most of world trade moves by sea, and a handful of canals and straits carry a large share of it. PortReckon lets you reroute around three of these chokepoints to see how closing one changes the distance and ETA. This page explains what they are.

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, letting ships travel between Europe and Asia without sailing around Africa. When it is unavailable, traffic diverts around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, adding thousands of nautical miles and many days to the voyage.

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across Central America. Without it, ships must round Cape Horn or pass the Strait of Magellan at the southern end of South America, a far longer and rougher passage.

Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow entrance to the Persian Gulf and a key route for oil and gas shipments. It has no practical sea detour, so disruption there affects energy supply chains directly.

Other key passages

Other heavily used waterways include the Strait of Malacca between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Strait of Gibraltar at the mouth of the Mediterranean, and the Bosphorus linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Each concentrates a great deal of traffic into a narrow lane.

Trying it in PortReckon

Use the passage controls to avoid the Suez Canal, Panama Canal, or Strait of Hormuz, then recalculate. The route redraws around the closure so you can compare the added distance and time. Results are for planning and visualization only.

Routes are for planning/visualization only and are not certified for navigation.