Bab el-Mandeb Strait effectively closed by December 31?: Yes was quoted at 18.5%, while Bab el-Mandeb Strait effectively closed by September 30?: Yes was at 14.5% in the 1 August 2026, 11:39 UTC snapshot. The 4-point gap is a record of traded prices under a specific contract, not an objective probability or a complete account of the underlying issue.
Update history (1)
- Updated the market snapshot, leading outcomes and rule-first analysis for 1 August 2026.
Context for this bet
- What the contract asks
- This market will resolve to “Yes” if IMF PortWatch publishes a 7-day moving average of transit calls (“Arrivals of Ships”) for the Bab el-Mandeb Strait less than or equal to 10 for any date between market creation and the listed date. Otherwise, this market will resolve to “No”. This market will resolve as soon as IMF PortWatch publishes a 7-day moving average of transit calls for the Bab el-Mandeb Strait equal to or below 10, or once data has been published for the listed date and no such value has been published. If no data has been published for the listed date within 14 calendar days (ET) after that date, this market will resolve based on the data published up to that point.
- Why it matters
- The outcome matters because the headline describes a major real-world event, while the contract resolves only on a defined trigger within a defined period.
- The event resolves under its written trigger, deadline and evidence hierarchy [1].
- International Monetary Fund maintains a primary or institutional reference relevant to the underlying event [2].
- International Monetary Fund provides a second independent reference point for checking the settlement context [3].
What the contract actually asks
This market will resolve to “Yes” if IMF PortWatch publishes a 7-day moving average of transit calls (“Arrivals of Ships”) for the Bab el-Mandeb Strait less than or equal to 10 for any date between market creation and the listed date. Otherwise, this market will resolve to “No”. This market will resolve as soon as IMF PortWatch publishes a 7-day moving average of transit calls for the Bab el-Mandeb Strait equal to or below 10, or once data has been published for the listed date and no such value has been published. If no data has been published for the listed date within 14 calendar days (ET) after that date, this market will resolve based on the data published up to that point. That wording is the analytical starting point. A development can dominate headlines and still fail the formal trigger, while a narrowly documented event can satisfy the contract before the wider story is settled [1].
The deadline and evidence hierarchy deserve equal weight with the headline. They determine whether timing is measured in local time or Eastern Time, whether an announcement is enough, and whether a later clarification can change the apparent result. Treating those details as footnotes produces false precision.
References [1]
Where the snapshot put the weight
Bab el-Mandeb Strait effectively closed by December 31?: Yes was quoted at 18.5%, while Bab el-Mandeb Strait effectively closed by September 30?: Yes was at 14.5% in the 1 August 2026, 11:39 UTC snapshot. The event recorded about $334,100 in 24-hour volume and $504,300 in market-level liquidity at the snapshot time [1]. Activity at the event level does not guarantee equal depth in each underlying contract.
The 4-point separation between the two leading displayed outcomes is more informative than either decimal on its own. It shows where marginal traders placed relative weight at that moment. It does not show how much size could trade at the displayed price, whether the spread was narrow, or whether all outcomes were updated at the same pace.
References [1]
What the structure appears to imply
Read cautiously, the ordering suggests which rule-defined path traders considered easier to reach. A curve across dates says something about timing. A set of candidates or thresholds says something about relative ranking. Neither should be promoted into a claim that the market has discovered the true probability of the broader event.
Independently traded outcomes are not survey answers drawn from one representative sample. They can carry different spreads, incentives and participant mixes. Their percentages may overlap or leave gaps, particularly when each contract is a separate yes-or-no order book. That structure makes comparison useful, but summing the numbers can be misleading [1].
References [1]
Why that reading can fail
Terminology, attribution, reporting delays and uneven liquidity can all move the quote or decide settlement without matching the broader public understanding of the event. A shift caused by a rules clarification is analytically different from a shift caused by new information about the world, even when both appear as the same movement on a chart [1].
Market quality is a second source of error. The last traded price can be stale, a small order can move a thin book, and aggregate liquidity can conceal weak depth in the outcome a reader cares about. Volume measures activity, not accuracy. None of these figures converts the snapshot into an audited forecast.
References [1]
Evidence is part of the outcome
Official records and credible reporting can establish the surrounding facts, but the market rules decide which facts count and when they must occur. PortWatch platform is the first outside reference in this analysis [2]. PortWatch platform launch supplies a separate check on the relevant public record [3].
The disciplined approach is to compare each new fact with the exact settlement trigger. First ask what happened. Then ask when it happened, how it was documented and whether the named source recognizes it. Only after those checks should a reader decide whether the information bears on the contract rather than merely on the larger story.
What to watch
- The exact primary record or credible reporting named by the settlement rules.
- Changes in the gap between the leading rule-defined outcomes, checked against individual-contract depth.
- Any clarification to the deadline, evidence hierarchy, measurement method or qualifying terminology.
Prices are a dated snapshot, not objective probabilities or trading advice. Polyruler is editorially independent and has no financial relationship with Polymarket or the people and institutions discussed.