Charterers join in as Cosco heads a flurry of box ship newbuild orders
Newbuilding orders over the past week show that Cosco Shipping Lines is on a fleet ...
Port of Balboa. Photo: Dreamstime.com
By Alison Koo
Cosco has suspended its liner services to Panama’s Balboa port, in what is believed to be retaliation for the Panamanian government’s revocation of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison’s port concession.
The Loadstar was shown a Spanish-language advisory circulated to forwarders, by Cosco Shipping’s Panama office, confirming that with effect from Tuesday, the Chinese liner operator would be pausing sailings to Balboa.
The advisory added: “All confirmed bookings will be cancelled. Please contact your salesperson for available options. Empty containers are to be returned to the port of Manzanillo or Colon Container Terminal; no empty containers will be received in Balboa.”
Meanwhile, Chinese forwarders are offering customers several solutions.
One said: “For shipping to Balboa, or transhipping via Balboa to Colon Free Trade Zone or Panama City, cargo can be diverted to MIT Terminal in Manzanillo, Panama, for loading or transhipment. For transhipment via Balboa to Central America, containers can detour to Lazaro for transhipment.
“These are viable options for shippers that have confirmed bookings, but have yet to load their cargo. Containers already under way to Balboa should await further instructions from us.”
MIT and Colon Container Terminal, on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal, are operated by US-based SSA Marine and Taiwanese line Evergreen, respectively.
Following a ruling from Panama’s Supreme Court in January, the government annulled the concessions CK Hutchison subsidiary Panama Ports Co (PPC) held over Balboa and Cristobal container terminals, at on opposite ends of the canal. The court ruled PPC’s concessions unconstitutional and that there was about $1.3bn inunpaid profit-sharing revenue dating back to 1997, when PPC was granted the concessions.
The ruling occurred amid pressure from US president Donald Trump, who claimed early in 2025 that China was controlling the Panama Canal.
In March last year, CK Hutchison agreed to sell most of its international ports business – 43 terminals in 23 countries – in a deal worth about $23bn to a consortium headed by US private equity group BlackRock and TIL. However, while favoured by the US, the sale ran into opposition from the Chinese government.
In February, temporary management of Balboa and Cristobal terminals was handed to APM Terminals and MSC’s terminal operating arm, TIL, respectively.
PPC has filed a claim under the International Chamber of Commerce seeking $2bn in compensation for what it sees as the unlawful seizure of its port operations.
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