Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings (CKHH) Group has involved the Danish shipping group Maersk in the legal dispute that opposed to the Republic of Panama and which has been launched after the Supreme Court of Justice of Panama had declared the unconstitutionality of the law that had made the concession agreement by which the Panama Ports Company, controlled by the CKHH, it managed the Panamanian ports of Cristóbal and Balboa and after the government of the Central American nation had conferred the transitional management of the port of Balboa to the company terminal operator APM Terminals of the Maersk group and the port of Cristóbal to Terminal terminal operator Investment Limited (TiL) of the Swiss shipping group Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) ( of 30 January and 24 February 2026).

The Chinese group, in fact, has announced that Panama Ports Company (PCC) has commenced arbitration proceedings in London against Maersk A/S, an action that - CKHH specified - was undertaken because Maersk would have violated the contract for a long time term held by the Panama Ports Company and would be aligned with the Republic of Panama in its campaign against PPC and the plan to replace it through an acquisition which has led to the establishment of new port operators.

"It is It is now known - denounced PPC in a statement - that, on 23 February 2026, Panama ousted PPC from port operations through extreme enforcement measures, has taken control of the port terminals and has entered into a concession contract default for Balboa terminal with a new operator affiliated with Maersk, which used the operational and PPC information".

Individually, so far in the legal dispute, the group of Hong Kong did not involve TiL or the parent company MSC, lack of involvement that would not seem to be explicable if not with the fact that TiL is part of the consortium with the US investments BlackRock which had signed an agreement to acquire 90% of the capital of Panama Ports Company ( of 4 March 2025). The negotiations between CKHH and the consortium, which mainly concern the much more substantial amounts that would be acquired by buying 80% of the capital of Hutchison Port Holdings (Hutchison Ports) of the Hong Kong Group Kong, would in fact still be ongoing.