The World's Second Gate Is Closing Too

When the Strait of Hormuz closed in 2026, the world's oil looked for another way out. Saudi Arabia pumped it west across the desert to the Red Sea. But every tanker bound for Asia then had to pass through a second gate: Bab el-Mandeb, the Gate of Tears. About 30 km wide, with a small island in the middle. Here's why this strait matters so much, told through its map: the Red Sea corridor between Suez and Aden, the rift where Africa and Arabia are pulling apart, Britain's coaling stations, Djibouti's crowd of foreign bases, the Galaxy Leader hostages, and what happens when both gates narrow at once. Chapters 0:00 The first gate closes 0:30 The Gate of Tears 1:08 Two ways between Europe and Asia 2:05 Tilting the map: a sea that is splitting apart 2:51 A gate for the first humans? 3:17 1869: Suez opens the corridor 3:44 Djibouti: "Our geography is our oil" 4:25 The Galaxy Leader and its 25 seafarers 5:34 The numbers: ships turn back around Africa 6:28 2026: the stories of two gates become one 7:23 Perim island 7:57 Two needles, one thread 8:35 What will world trade do? Note: this video reflects the situation in late October 2026. Things may have changed since. Sources U.S. Energy Information Administration: World Oil Transit Chokepoints; Red Sea chokepoint flows (Vortexa data) Suez Canal Authority: 2023 and 2024 transit and revenue figures ACLED: Houthi activity and Red Sea attacks Government of the Philippines (Department of Migrant Workers) and Omani Foreign Ministry: Galaxy Leader crew release, January 2025 Geological and oceanographic literature on the Red Sea rift; research on Southern Dispersal route hypotheses Reporting on Djibouti's foreign military bases; British administration of Aden (1839) and Perim Map data Natural Earth (public domain) Elevation and seafloor: Terrain Tiles on AWS Open Data (Mapzen; includes ETOPO1 / GEBCO bathymetry) Shipping lanes, pipeline routes and world sea routes are simplified/approximate. Base positions in Djibouti are approximate. The rift animation and the sea-level scene are schematic. #BabElMandeb #RedSea #Geography