Red Sea crisis: How global trade is being upended by attacks on container ships

London CNN — Attacks on container vessels in the Red Sea have been wreaking havoc on one of the world's most important trade routes for weeks, and shipping giant Maersk warned Thursday that the disruption could last as long as a year. Iran-backed Houthi militants stepped up their attacks on ships in late November in retaliation for Israel's war against Hamas. The resulting delays and extra costs for shipping companies have fueled concerns that consumers, still struggling after a prolonged spell of rampant inflation, could be hit with fresh price rises. There has been an "almost wholesale exodus" of larger…