The Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison announced this Friday that it has expanded its international arbitration claim against Panama over the withdrawal of the concession for two ports near the canal, after filing a supplement to its initial request with an international tribunal. The company accused Panamanian authorities of occupying facilities and documents from its subsidiary Panama Ports Company (PPC) and of ignoring its requests for communication regarding the management of the terminals, according to a statement released today by the group on its website. According to the conglomerate, the new document presented to Panamanian authorities under an investment protection treaty adds arguments to the already-filed arbitration claim against the Panamanian state and denounces that authorities continued to ignore its communications and suspend consultations while occupying the ports and taking control of the assets and personnel of its subsidiary in the Central American country. The company also questioned what it described as "inaccurate" statements by the Panamanian state about the company and its subsidiary and assured that it will continue to challenge what it considers an "illegal confiscation" of documents and materials protected by property rights. PPC has also filed an administrative petition to reconsider the decree, the measure that led to the occupation of the port facilities and the confiscation of the company's assets, according to the statement. The dispute dates back to the ruling issued in January by the Supreme Court of Justice of Panama, which declared unconstitutional the law that approved the concession granted in 1997 to PPC to operate the ports of Balboa, on the Pacific, and Cristóbal, on the Atlantic, as well as its extension from 2021 to 2047. After the ruling was published on February 23, the Panama Maritime Authority took control of both terminals and handed over their temporary operation to subsidiaries of the shipping companies Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), while the Panamanian government prepares new bidding processes to award the concessions. CK Hutchison and its subsidiary in Panama had already initiated an international arbitration case on the matter, the amount of which, according to the company's advisor and spokesman Alejandro Kouruklis at the end of February, amounts to some 2,000 million dollars. The dispute also comes amid geopolitical tensions surrounding the Panama Canal, after U.S. President Donald Trump denounced the alleged Chinese influence on the strategic infrastructure.
