Panama City (AFP) – 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 Friday. Panama’s Supreme Court on Thursday 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 percent of US container traffic and five percent of world trade, was built by the United States, which operated it for a century before ceding control to Panama in 1999.
On Friday, 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 the 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 Supreme Court found, without providing reasons, that the PPC and Hutchison’s role was “unconstitutional.”
The United States on Friday welcomed the decision. But 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.” For its part, PPC said the ruling “lacks legal basis and endangers…the welfare and stability of thousands of Panamanian families” who depend on its operations.
The annulment of the PPC contract was requested last year 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 had failed to pay the Panamanian state $1.2 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 $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 Kelvin Lam, a China-focused economist at the consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics. He said 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 50-mile waterway, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and is used mainly by the United States and China.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, who has called the CK Hutchison contract “extortionate,” said Friday the canal will continue operating “without disruption.” He added there would be a transition period leading up to a new concession “under terms and conditions favorable to our country.” Mulino did not specify when a new concession will be put on offer.
APM Terminals said in a statement earlier Friday it was “willing” to operate the ports “to support operational continuity” and to 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 percent 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.
© 2024 AFP
