The attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea are severely impacting global maritime container traffic, with volumes in the area down by nearly 70% of anticipated cargo, a leading German economic institute reported on Thursday. The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) said container volume in the Red Sea “plummeted by more than half and is currently almost 70% below the volume that would usually be expected.” “The detour of ships due to the attacks in the Red Sea around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa means that the time it takes to transport goods between Asian production centres and Eur…