The group CK Hutchison Holdings (CKHH) of Hong Kong has announced of having warned the shipowning group A.P. Møller-Mærsk that if its society integrally controlled APM Terminals will assume the management of the terminals of the Panamensi ports of Cristóbal and Balboa without the express consent of the CKH HP will cause damage to the same CK Hutchison Holdings The latter, in fact, had expressed its willingness to manage the two ports after that last month Supreme Court of Justice of Panama had declared the inconstitutionality of the law on the concession contract in which the Panama Ports Company manages the two ports of call Panama, establishing the decadence(of 30 January and 2 February 2026).

Evidencing that the continuation of operations at the terminals of Balboa and Cristóbal depends exclusively on the actions of the Supreme Court of Panama and the Panamanian State and that its decision for the resolution of the concession makes PPC operations illegal in Balboa and Cristóbal, making impossible any continuation of operations at the terminals, and recalling that Panama Ports Company has consequently initiated an arbitral proceeding against the Republic of Panama (inforMAREof 4 February 2026), CK Hutchison Holdings has specified that it will continue to consult its lawyers regarding all possible actions against the Supreme Court ruling, including the launch of further national and international legal procedures against the Republic of Panama, its agents and third parties colluse with them in this affair.

In a note today the group of Hong Kong has specified, however, that, "despite these developments, CKH remains fully committed to guarantee that PPC adopts all the measures reasonably available to safeguard the employees who participate in its operations, avoid interruptions to port operations, as well as towards customers and suppliers, and to facilitate the flow of ships and goods in transit in the channel of Panama, as it has always done, to condition that the actions of the Supreme Court of Panama".

CKHH then denounced that "the Panamanian state has not supplied PPC any guarantee or clarity regarding the operations of the PPC in the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal and continues to push for a forced interruption or for the acquisition of the activities of the PPC, causing further discomfort and damage. If the publication of the sentence should involve the resolution of the concession of PPC - it has warned the Chinese group - the immediate consequence would be to make impossible the management of the terminals of PPC in the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal. Consequently, in this phase, the continuation of the operation of the ports depends exclusively on the actions of the Supreme Court of Panama and the Panamanian State, actions that are obviously totally outside the control of CKH, HPH and PPC".