- CK Hutchison has launched arbitration in London against Mærsk, alleging it colluded with Panama in a takeover of two key canal ports after its subsidiary was ousted.
- The dispute follows Panama’s annulment of the PPC concession (held since 1997), after which Maersk assumed operations at Balboa and Cristóbal.
- Maersk rejects liability and says the authorities acted lawfully.
Today, CK Hutchison started arbitration proceedings against A.P. Moeller-Maersk after the Danish company took over two ports near the Panama Canal, from which the Hong Kong conglomerate was forcibly removed.
Panama decided to annul the contract of Panama Ports Canal (PPC), a CK subsidiary, in January of this year. Shortly after, Maersk took over the Balboa port on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal and the Cristóbal port on the Atlantic side.
“Contrary to the contract, Maersk undermined the agreement and aligned itself with the Republic of Panama in connection with its state-led campaign against PPC and a scheme to replace it through a takeover that installed new port operators,” PPC said.
Maersk denied the accusations and defended that the Panamanian authorities had acted lawfully.
“We can confirm that Panama Ports Company (“PPC”) has initiated arbitration proceedings against Maersk in relation to the Government of Panama’s constitutional actions and the Panamanian Supreme Court ruling invalidating PPC’s former concession,” said Maersk in a statement to Trade Finance Global (TFG). “Maersk does not believe it is liable for the claims and will address them in the appropriate forum.”
Though this is a separate claim, it brings a new dimension to the ongoing dispute between PPC and the Panamanian authorities, which now seeks more than $2 billion in damages. PPC said the Maersk claim is “without prejudice” to its ongoing efforts to hold Panama accountable for what it described as “anti-contractual and anti-investor conduct.”
The January ruling by Panama’s Supreme Court invalidated the legal framework underpinning the 1997 concession that granted PPC the right to operate the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals on either side of the canal.
Panama’s government subsequently awarded temporary operating contracts to subsidiaries of Maersk and MSC to run Balboa and Cristóbal, respectively.
The arbitration will be heard in London.
Traffic through the affected ports
The Balboa and Cristóbal terminals together handle approximately 3.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually, representing nearly 40% of Panama’s total container throughput.
Balboa alone reached 2.7 million TEUs in 2025, 86.6% of which were transhipment cargo, making the port Latin America’s number one transhipment terminal.
The port at Cristóbal has been in commercial operation for over 150 years, and is a crucial connection to the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean. Cristóbal increased container movements to 1.2 million TEUs in 2025, with 97.5% transshipments.
