An estimated 80% of world trade is transported via ship. Maritime trade is most vulnerable to disruption at a series of geographic chokepoints across the globe (Figure 1). Some chokepoints are human-built canals, which provide extremely valuable shortcuts to connect the world’s oceans, and others are naturally narrow points between bodies of water. In recent months, water level issues at the Panama Canal and attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, specifically around Bab el-Mandeb, have severely limited trade through two of the world’s most important passages. This Market Intel does a deep dive on these twin issues, which have compounded to create major headaches for global trade.