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Hong Kong firm seeks $2 billion over
Panama's takeover of 2 key canal ports
[March 07, 2026]
HONG KONG (AP) — A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that
has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is
seeking $2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its
“illegal” takeover of the ports.
Panama Ports Company, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings, said
in a Friday statement that it is demanding the sum under international
arbitration proceedings that it had already started. |
An aerial view of the Balboa terminal, run by CK Hutchison's Panama
Ports Co., after Panama's government ordered the occupation of the port
following a Supreme Court ruling that the concession was
unconstitutional, in Panama City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias
Delacroix) |
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Panama’s government last week seized control of the Balboa and
Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, a crucial
waterway for maritime trade, after the country’s Supreme Court
declared earlier that a concession allowing the Panama Ports
Company to run the pair of ports was unconstitutional.
Panama Ports Company operated the two ports since 1997 and had
only renewed its concession in 2021 for another 25 years.
Beijing and Hong Kong’s governments had also hit back at Panama
over the seizure of the two ports.
The two ports came into the spotlight after U.S. President
Donald Trump, early last year, accused China of “running” the
Panama Canal.
After CK Hutchison announced a deal in March last year that it
would sell the bulk of their dozens of global ports, including
the two Panama ports, to a consortium that involved U.S.
investment firm BlackRock in a $23 billion deal, Beijing was
quick to protest and the deal has been largely stalled over the
past months.
CK Hutchison and the Panama Ports Company “will not relent and
they are not coming for some token relief – they will assert all
of their rights and damages they are due because of the radical
breaches and anti-investor conduct of the Panamanian State,”
Friday's statement said.
In the statement, Panama Ports Company also said the Panamanian
state had previously misstated the compensation figure sought in
press comments. Panama Economy Minister Felipe Chapman had
earlier said the company was seeking $1.5 billion in
compensation.
In a separate statement on Friday, CK Hutchison accused Panama
of occupying the two ports and taking the property and personnel
of the Panama Ports Company “without transparency.” The company
also said it would continue to “pursue recourse to available
national and international legal proceedings” on the matter.
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