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How did the 1973 Yom Kippur War affect oil tanker traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait?
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Red Sea
Map showing the Red Sea and the countries surrounding it. The Red Sea is one of the most heavily traveled waterways in the world. It is about 1,200 miles (1,930 km) long, and its maximum width is about 190 miles (305 km).
During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait became a site of military action when Egyptian forces, in coordination with allies in South Yemen, established a blockade specifically targeting oil tankers traveling through the strait that were en route to Israel.1