The Danish company will replace Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison after President Trump claimed the strategic waterway was controlled by China.
Published January 31, 2026
Danish company Maersk will temporarily operate two ports on the Panama Canal after a court ruled its contract with a Hong Kong company was unconstitutional.
The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) announced the changes on Friday, a day after the Central American country’s Supreme Court invalidated its port contract with Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison.
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The court’s decision comes after repeated threats from US President Donald Trump to seek the seizure of waterways that he claims are effectively controlled by China.
CK Hutchison’s contract to operate the port was “disproportionately biased” against the Hong Kong-based company, according to a court ruling that invalidated the deal.
On Friday, AMP announced that port operator APM Terminals, part of Maersk Group, would take over as “interim manager” of the ports of Balboa and Cristobal, on either end of the canal.
Maersk has managed the port since 1997 under a 25-year concession that was renewed in 2021, taking over from Panama Ports Company (PPC), a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings.
The canal is a man-made waterway that handles approximately 40% of U.S. container traffic and 5% of global trade. It has been managed by Panama since 1999, when control was transferred to the United States, which financed the canal’s construction from 1904 to 1914.
The US government welcomed the decision on Friday, but Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing would “take all necessary measures to firmly protect the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies.”
PPC said the ruling “lacks legal basis and endangers the well-being and stability of thousands of Panamanian families who depend on its operations.”
Tens of thousands of workers dug an 82 km (51 mile) passageway that later became the Panama Canal, allowing ships to pass from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean without having to detour around the northern or southern reaches of the Americas.
Panama has always denied Chinese control of the canal, which is primarily used by the United States and China.
