Bab Al-Mandab Strait. "Bab Al-Tears" and the Red Sea Gateway to the Gulf of Aden

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A waterway that represents the southern gateway to the Red Sea, connecting it to the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, and forming an important link in the shortest and least expensive maritime trade route linking East Asia to Europe.

The strait enjoys strategic, economic and military importance, which made it an arena for regional and international conflicts, and the competing powers have worked to strengthen their influence in it by establishing military bases on islands and riparian countries, and exploiting control of the strait and closing it to opponents when needed, thus becoming a trump card in wars and disputes.

Location and geography

The Bab al-Mandab Strait is located in the far south of the Red Sea, between the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa, and is bordered on the Asian side by Yemen and on the African side by Djibouti.

It is a natural waterway connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden overlooking the Indian Ocean. It is about 30 kilometers wide, from Ras Menhali on the Asian coast, to Ras Sian on the African coast.

The Yemeni island of Perim is located at the entrance to the southern strait, and divides the strait into two channels:

Iskandar Canal: It is considered the smallest between the two canals, located to the east along the Yemeni mainland, with a width of 3 kilometers and a maximum depth of 30 meters.

"Daqqa Al-Mayun" channel: It is the largest channel, located in the west adjacent to the African coast, and is about 25 kilometers wide and 310 meters deep.

The emergence of Bab al-Mandeb - according to geological sources - is due to the divergent tectonic movement that occurred in the third geological era, which resulted in the separation of the Arabian Peninsula from the continent of Africa, and the formation of the Red Sea, including Bab al-Mandab.

Nomenclature

The origins of the name "Bab al-Mandab" go back to the Arabic word "scarring", which means crying for the dead, meaning "the door of tears". They cited reasons for this name, including: the tears that Yemeni women poured on sailors who went missing while crossing the strait.

It is also said that the name came from the assignment of African women sons and daughters who were taken as slaves and captives to Arabia through the Strait, during the invasions of Arab tribes into Africa.

One legend states that the reason for the name is due to the scarring of the dead who drowned in the sea, due to an earthquake that separated the continents of Asia and Africa.

Some sources have stated that the name "Bab al-Mandab" derives from the verb "nadab", i.e.: jazz and abar, because the strait represents a crossing between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Importance

The Bab al-Mandab Strait is one of the most important water crossings in the world, and its importance was clearly highlighted with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, as it became one of the important links of the shortest sea route, which connects East Asia and Europe, which extends from the Indian Ocean through the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and through the Bab al-Mandab to the Red Sea and then the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal.

The economic importance of the strait has grown over time, as it formed a sea passage for international trade, due to the effort, time and material cost it provides, and it has become a heavy navigation movement in both directions, as most of the trade exchange activities between Asia and Europe pass through it, and about 10% of global navigation.

The strait gained great economic importance with the thirties of the twentieth century, and the emergence of oil in the Arabian Gulf, and due to the breadth and depth of its channels, and its ability to easily accommodate huge ships and oil tankers in both directions, it became one of the most important water crossings for energy resources in the world, and formed one of the sides of the triangle of strategic crossings for energy transport (Hormuz, Mandab and Suez).

The Bab al-Mandab Strait ranks third in the world in terms of transit of energy resources, after the Straits of Malacca and Hormuz, where most oil and natural gas exports from the Arabian Gulf pass through it, which cross the Suez Canal or the SUMED pipeline. The number of ships passing through it is estimated at more than 21,57 per year, equivalent to <> ships per day.

Mayun Island in Bab al-Mandab (island)

According to data from the US Energy Information Administration Agency for 2018, about 6.2 million barrels per day of crude oil, condensate and refined petroleum products pass through the "Bab al-Mandab" to Europe and the United States, and to Asian markets such as Singapore, China and India, equivalent to about 9% of the total seaborne oil in the world, including crude oil and refined petroleum products.

The closure of the Bab al-Mandab to navigation due to some crises leads to the need to circumvent South Africa, via the Cape of Good Hope route, which would increase transit time by an additional 6,<> nautical miles and significant additional shipping costs.

This strait enjoys military and security importance, required by the need to preserve economic interests, secure international trade lines, stay near the export centers of energy resources, and consolidate political influence in the region, which necessitated the keenness of the great powers to install military bases on the islands located inside and around the strait, and on the shores of the countries bordering it.

The military importance of the strait lies in the fact that it provides the advantage of defending the southern gate of the Red Sea, from fortified points located either on the high beaches protected naturally, or on the island of Perm, which intercepts it, and then the possibility of establishing monitoring and control points, radar stations or establishing military bases.

Date

Since ancient times, Bab al-Mandab has played an active role in linking the east of the world with its west, due to its distinctive strategic location that attracted the attention of the major powers at the time, so they rushed to control it commercially and militarily since the times of the ancient Egyptian state, then the Greeks and Ptolemies to the Romans, who began to use the Red Sea route to Asia and expand the volume of their trade after their invasion of Egypt.

In the 15th century, with the arrival of the Portuguese fleet in the Indian Ocean via the Cape of Good Hope route, the importance of the Bab al-Mandab Strait declined, especially during periods of power of the Ottoman Empire, which tightened its control over the strait and prevented European ships from navigating the Red Sea.

With the weakening of the Ottoman Empire at the end of its reign, the French-British rivalry over the region began, and their influence infiltrated the Red Sea to reach the "Bab al-Mandab" and the strait area became the subject of competition from the European colonial powers.

Following Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign against Egypt in 1798, Britain placed a military garrison on Mayon Island to impede French access to the Indian Ocean, and by 1839 the British had settled on Kamaran Island, stationing their own military forces on Mayon Island at the southern gate of the strait.

In 1869, the Italians seized the Ethiopian port of "Assab", and consolidated their presence in eastern and southern Somalia, and Britain took control in 1883 of the ports of "Zaila" and "Berbera" in northern Somalia, and the French had begun to impose their control over the shores of Djibouti since 1862.

European influence in the strait continued until 1960, when Somalia officially became independent with the departure of British and Italian troops, and in 1977 France left Djibouti, keeping a military base it had established in 1969. With the end of colonialism, Bab al-Mandab became subservient to the riparian states, controlled by Yemen, Djibouti, and Eritrea.

Foreign military bases

Following Britain's withdrawal from Aden and the proclamation of the Republic of South Yemen in 1967, the Soviet fleet was able to extend its influence at the entrance to the strait, by settling in the port of Aden and the island of Socotra. America has also been present in the Dahlak archipelago since World War II.

The military and security importance of the "Bab al-Mandab" appeared in 1973 during the Arab-Israeli conflict, when Egypt and Yemen agreed to close the strait to Israel, and its security importance grew after the attacks of September 11, 2001, as America worked to secure navigation in the strait in the face of al-Qaeda and pirates in the region, by establishing a military base in Djibouti in 2002.

Between 2008 and 2017, four other countries established military bases in Djibouti: Spain, Japan, Italy and China. Piracy operations that have escalated since 4 in Bab al-Mandab and the Gulf of Aden have led to the internationalization of the region, through the intensive presence of international military forces aimed at combating the phenomenon.

Turkey established its largest military base in the world in Somalia in 2017, and the UAE established a military base in Eritrea and another in Berbera, Somalia. Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with Djibouti to set up a base there. Israel has been able to build military bases on a number of Eritrean islands. The strait region and its environs thus became teeming with military bases for rival powers for influence.

Houthi control

With the outbreak of the war in Yemen in 2014, and the subsequent Houthi control of the Bab al-Mandab, the level of security threat in the Red Sea and the strait doubled, especially with Iran's support for its Houthi allies with weapons, technology and advanced military equipment, which enabled them to sometimes disrupt freedom of navigation around the strait.

Countries from neighboring Gulf countries engaged in the war in Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of countering the expansion of Iranian influence in the region, and this intersected with the interests of a group of countries that pursue the same goal, such as America and Israel.

The Houthis took Mayun Island, which controls the southern entrance to the strait, as their military position, but in October 2015 the Saudi-led Arab coalition managed to take control of Bab al-Mandab and the UAE later built a military base in Mayun.

Since the intervention of the Arab coalition in Yemen, Houthi attacks have targeted ships in or near the strait, and they have detained many ships belonging to coalition countries, and fired missiles that severely damaged the Emirati ship "Swift".

In 2016, the Houthis fired rockets at the U.S. Navy near Bab al-Mandab and indiscriminately laid naval mines in territorial waters.

In 2018, Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih announced a two-week temporary suspension of all oil exports through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, following a Houthi attack on two ships loaded with crude oil.

Following the Houthis' attack on three ships, one of them Saudi, in the southern Red Sea in November 3, the coalition declared that the Houthis' behavior represented an attack on the security of Bab al-Mandab and a real threat to international freedom of navigation and global trade.

In an attempt to secure the international trade route in the Red Sea, America and Britain, along with a group of allied countries, formed in April 2022 a security team of the Joint International Maritime Forces, called the "Joint Task Force 153 International", which includes Arab and foreign countries, and carries out security tasks concentrated in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab and the Gulf of Aden.

Closure to Israel

Following the outbreak of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" battle in October 2023 between the resistance factions in Palestine and the Israeli occupation, the Houthis engaged in the ongoing fighting by firing missiles and drones towards Israel, and the Houthis announced on November 16 that Bab al-Mandab and the surrounding waters would be closed to Israeli ships and any warships that protect them directly or indirectly.

Within days the Houthis detained the Israeli-owned Galaxy Leader and its crew, and in late November the USS Carney shot down a Houthi drone that approached it in Bab al-Mandab.

On December 3, 2023, the Houthis attacked two Israeli ships in the southern Red Sea, the Unity Explorer and No. 9, with an armed drone and a naval missile, as well as Israeli ships in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.

As the Israeli aggression continued, the Houthi group announced, on December 9, that all ships of all nationalities heading to and from Israeli ports would be prohibited from passing, and the Houthis attacked several Israeli and foreign ships as they crossed the area with missiles and drones.

As a result, since mid-December 2023, international shipping companies began temporarily suspending the passage of their ships through the "Bab al-Mandab" and the Red Sea, including the largest companies in the field of international shipping "Maersk" Denmark, the French shipping group "CMA, CGM" and "MSC" Italian-Swiss, and the giant oil and gas company "British Petroleum".

As a result, the price of Europe's main natural gas has risen by as much as 7.9 percent, amid fears of power outages, and a group of ships have rerouted to avoid passing through the Red Sea by circumnavigating South Africa via the Cape of Good Hope.

The threats have caused an economic blow to Israel, with the Red Sea port of Eilat paralyzed, and the time to sail on the alternative route to Israel increased between 17 and 22 days at least, raising shipping costs and cargo prices, and hindering deals and trade.

In support of freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, and to stand up to Houthi attacks on commercial ships transiting the Bab al-Mandab, the United States announced on December 18, 2023, the launch of Operation Guardian of Prosperity, a security initiative consisting of a multinational maritime protection force, under the umbrella of the Joint International Maritime Forces, and its "Task Force 153" affiliated with it.

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