Mon Prof Augmenté
Sea lanes and narrow straits
Age 17 · Geography
Most goods traded between continents travel by ship. Vessels follow a few busy sea lanes and pass through narrow straits that connect the oceans.
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In the picture
- A glowing lane across open water: a busy sea route carrying trade between continents
- The narrow strait between a peninsula and an island: a chokepoint where ships funnel through a few kilometres of water
- A cargo vessel in the line: ships queue and wait their turn to pass
- Gantry cranes above stacked containers: the port where sea freight is loaded and unloaded
Examples
- A smartphone made in East Asia and sold in Europe: its parts crossed the sea in containers.
- Petrol in a car tank: the crude oil reached the refinery on a tanker that passed through a narrow strait.
Key takeaways
- Roughly 80–90% of world trade by volume is carried by sea.
- A handful of narrow straits — Malacca, Hormuz, Bab-el-Mandeb, Suez, Panama — handle a large share of that traffic.
Quiz: Sea lanes and narrow straits (Age 17)
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According to the card, how do most goods traded between continents travel?
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Roughly what share of world trade by volume is carried by sea?
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What is the role of narrow straits such as Malacca, Hormuz, Bab-el-Mandeb, Suez and Panama?
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