Posted on February 2, 2026
PANAMA CITY – Danish firm Maersk will temporarily take over operation of two ports on the Panama Canal from Hong Kong company CK Hutchison, whose concession has been annulled, the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) said on Jan 30.
Panama’s Supreme Court on Jan 29 invalidated Hutchison’s contract following
repeated threats from President Donald Trump
that the United States would seek to reclaim the waterway he said was effectively being controlled by China.
The canal, which handles about 40 per cent of US container traffic and 5 per cent of world trade, was built by the US which operated it for a century before ceding control to Panama in 1999.
CK Hutchison’s contract to operate the ports had “disproportionate bias” towards the company, according to the court ruling that annulled the deal.
On Jan 30, the AMP said port operator APM Terminals, part of the Maersk Group, would be a “temporary administrator” of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on either end of the waterway.
It would take over from Panama Ports Company (PPC) – a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings – which has managed the ports since 1997 under a concession renewed in 2021 for 25 years.
The US on Jan 30 welcomed the decision.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing “will take all measures necessary to firmly protect the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies”.
PPC said the ruling “lacks legal basis and endangers… the welfare and stability of thousands of Panamanian families” who depend on its operations.
Continuity
The annulment of the PPC contract was requested in 2025 by the office of the comptroller – an autonomous body that examines how government money is spent.
It argued the concession was “unconstitutional” and said Hutchison failed to pay the Panamanian state US$1.2 billion (S$1.5 billion) due.
The PPC argues it is the only port operator in which the Panamanian state is a shareholder and says it has paid the government US$59 million over the past three years.
“It is very hard to imagine that (the court ruling) was not influenced by persistent US pressure on canal ownership,” said Mr Kelvin Lam, a China-focused economist at consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics.
He added that foreign investors would likely be increasingly cautious about committing capital “to strategic infrastructure projects in the United States’ backyard”.
Panama has always denied Chinese control over the 80km waterway, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and is used mainly by the US and China.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, who has called the CK Hutchison contract “extortionate”, said on Jan 30 the canal will continue operating “without disruption”.
He added that there would be a transition period leading to a new concession “under terms and conditions favourable to our country”.
APM Terminals said on Jan 30 it was willing to operate the ports “to support operational continuity” and mitigate any risks to essential services.
CK Hutchison Holdings – founded by Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka-shing – announced in March 2025 it would offload a 90 per cent stake in PPC and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led by US asset manager BlackRock.
But the transaction fizzled out after China protested. AFP
