Aerial view of the port of Balboa in Panama City on Jan. 30, 2026. Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images
Panamanian authorities have taken control of two key ports, one at each end of the Panama Canal, removing employees of a Hong Kong conglomerate’s subsidiary and awarding temporary operating contracts to Denmark’s Maersk and Switzerland’s Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC).
The changes were finalized on Feb. 23 with the publication of a Supreme Court ruling in the official gazette. The move reverses concessions for the Balboa and Cristobal terminals held by Panama Ports Company, a unit of CK Hutchison Holdings. The Hong Kong company has managed the ports for nearly 30 years. It called the action unlawful and vowed to pursue national and international legal remedies.
