Kiel Canal: why this chokepoint matters, which countries sit on it, and the latest Bureau coverage.
Last updated: October 2026
Bureau read: 1 country sits on this passage; Germany (66.96/100). A chokepoint is judged by how many navies can hold it — and by the power of those who border it.
The Kiel Canal is a 98-kilometre artificial waterway across Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, connecting the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. Roughly 30,000 vessels transit it each year, making it the world's busiest artificial waterway — and saving about 460 kilometres versus sailing around Denmark.
Germany border this passage. The Bureau's page for each country shows its national power score and full profile.
The Kiel Canal is a strategic chokepoint — a narrow passage through which a large share of world trade or energy flows. A blockage or disruption here reroutes shipping, raises freight costs, and ripples into prices worldwide.
Each chokepoint carries a plain risk rating: Critical means the flow is disrupted or under direct threat; Tense means it works but pressure is building; Calm means normal operations. Ratings are reviewed every week.
The Kiel Canal is a trade shortcut, not an energy chokepoint. The Bureau's page does not give a single oil-volume figure for the canal; it carries intra-European trade, containers, and bulk cargo.
The Bureau's page does not state a single percentage of global trade for the canal. Its importance is regional: roughly 30,000 transits per year, mostly intra-European and Baltic traffic.
Across Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, from Brunsbüttel on the Elbe estuary (North Sea) to Kiel-Holtenau on the Baltic Sea; about 98 kilometres long.
Baltic shipping reroutes around Denmark's Skagen — adding roughly a day and about 460 kilometres — and northern German ports lose their Baltic shortcut.
Sources: Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes (WSV, German Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration) — transit counts and canal dimensions. UNCTAD, Review of Maritime Transport (2024). Observation date: 11 Oct 2026.
