LatinNews Daily - 13 February 2026

*Hong Kong-headquartered firm CK Hutchison Holdings has said that it has notified the Panamanian government of a dispute “pursuant to an investment protection treaty” in response to the supreme court (CSJ)’s ruling striking down its contract for two ports, Cristóbal and Balboa, on the Panama Canal. Since then, Panama’s maritime authority (AMP) has announced that APM Terminals (APMT), a Netherlands-based subsidiary of Danish shipping company Maersk, will temporarily serve as administrator of the two ports. In a statement yesterday (12 February) CK Hutchison Holdings also said that it had notified Maersk that any assumption by APMT of operations of the two terminals without its agreement would “result in recourse against APMT”. The CSJ’s ruling has been condemned by China, which has warned Panama that there will be “heavy prices” to pay, and welcomed by the US, whose President Donald Trump last year threatened to reclaim the Panama Canal, citing Chinese influence, among other things.

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