Following last week’s decision by Panama’s Supreme Court to annul concession contracts held by a CK Hutchison unit for the Balboa and Cristobal terminals, Maersk-controlled APM Terminals has stepped into the breach.

The Danish port operator has signalled its willingness to assume temporary operation of Balboa and Cristobal to safeguard trade flows – but only once the Supreme Court ruling becomes final and binding.

Last year, APM Terminals acquired the Panama Canal Railway Company which operates a 76 km single-line railway adjacent to the Panama Canal.

Panama Ports Company(PPC), controlled by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, has blasted the ruling as inconsistent with the legal framework that underpins operations at both sites, while the Hong Kong government has also hit out at the decision. 

Panamanian president José Raúl Mulino moved fast to dampen panic, insisting last week that the country’s ports “will operate without disruption” 

The court judgment lands amid a sharpening US-China tussle over strategic trade arteries, and a stalled plan by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison to try and sell off its entire ports division, something that has provoked both Beijing and Washington.