The Port of Balboa in Panama City. (Walter Hurtado/Bloomberg)
March 6, 2026 1:38 PM, EST
Panama Ports Co., a unit of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., filed international arbitration against Panama seeking at least $2 billion in damages over the Central American nation’s “illegal state takeover” of the Balboa and Cristobal ports.
The port operator has submitted the claim under International Chamber of Commerce rules, saying authorities have misstated the amount in public comments, according to a company statement March 6.
The company also challenged the government’s implementation of a Feb. 23 executive decree it said authorized the seizure of its assets and protected documents. The firm also sought the return of proprietary materials it described as unlawfully seized, while CK Hutchison supplemented an earlier notice of dispute under a bilateral investment treaty, citing a lack of transparency and consultation before the takeover.
PPC and CK Hutchison “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,” according to the statement.
CK Hutchison lost control of the two ports last month after Panama seized the assets amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump. The two ports are part of the Hong Kong conglomerate’s deal announced in March last year to sell 43 global facilities to a consortium backed by American investment firm BlackRock Inc.
The deal, which the company had expected to fetch more than $19 billion cash a year ago, has been dragging on with little progress over the past year, with hopes now pinned on an upcoming meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to yield a political breakthrough, Bloomberg News reported earlier.
