The Chinese company that operates ports at the Panama Canal will have to give up control after Panama’s Supreme Court ruled the concession was unconstitutional, according to a FreightWaves report citing other media sources.
Beijing had protested the decision announced on 29 January over the concession held by a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings of Hong Kong, the 30 January report said.
Prior to the decision, President Donald Trump had said it was imperative the USA took back control of the waterway.
To ensure continued smooth operations until the court’s ruling was implemented,
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino was reported as saying the state maritime authority would work with Hutchison’s Panama Ports Company at Cristobal and Balboa.
Mulino did not say when the ruling would take place, according to the report.
During the transition period, a local subsidiary of AP Moller-Maersk would operate the ports until a new concession could be bid and awarded, he said.
In 2025, US investor BlackRock and privately-held Mediterranean Shipping Co of Geneva, the world’s largest container carrier, had reached an agreement to purchase Hutchison, which has operations at 40 ports, for US$22.8bn, FreightWaves wrote.
However, the deal had fallen apart after China demanded state-owned ocean carrier Cosco should receive a controlling share, the report said.
FreightWaves said it had contacted BlackRock and MSC for comment.
