The Red Sea off the Jizan and Yemeni coasts may be experiencing the latest Houthi WBIED campaign against Saudi Led Coalition (SLC) assets. There has recently been a spate of mine and WBIEDS attacks hitting Saudi oil assets in particular, with the attackers managing to reach some significant infrastructure and potentially disrupting oil supply in parts of Saudi Arabia.

Vessels not belonging to Coalition member countries or companies have been targeted due to their proximity to Saudi oil assets throughout December.

The uncertain situation regarding the unfruitful Brexit negotiations, and a potential British crash out of the EU on 31 December will benefit human traffickers, who can exploit migrants' hopes of crossing the Channel, framing the no-deal as a hard deadline of entry into the UK.  Large numbers of migrants continue to linger in north-western Europe, waiting for a possibility to get to the UK either as stowaways or on organised human trafficking transports.

The Red Sea attracts both regional and global powers. Neighbouring countries and their partners are increasing the flow of trade to and from the region’s southern seaboard, piracy has decreased as regional conflicts and tensions attract an increasing amount of blue water navies, intent on defending their countries’ interests.