The president José Raúl Mulino walked between cranes, containers and moving yards in the Balboa portin an unusual visit full of signs.
Flanked by key figures on his team—the Minister of Labor, Jackeline Muñoz; and the Secretary of Goals, José Ramón Icaza— The president observed an operation that, as he insisted, is proceeding normally under temporary administration.
But outside the route, the context weighs. The visit occurs in the middle of the arbitration initiated by Panama Ports Company (PPC) against Maersk, after the departure of the first and the entry of the second as a temporary operator of the port of Balboa.
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It was not the typical Thursday press conference at the Presidency of the Republic. This time, Mulino made the tone of his message clear: He took photos with the workers now in charge of APM Terminals, toured the facilities and answered questions about the new tenders for Balboa and Cristobal, as well as a separate process for the port of Margarita, in a complete redesign of the port scheme that is only beginning to take shape.
At this intersection of present and future, the past also appeared. But Mulino avoided giving details about the audit of PPC management, although he left a sentence that leaves no room for error: “ What has been seen is “worrying.”
The port of Balboa and Cristóbal was under the administration of APM Terminals Panama since January 2026, in a “transitional” capacity for a period of 18 monthsuntil a new public tender is organized. This comes after PPC was left without a concession contract to operate the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice.
The presidential visit takes place two days later after PPC announced the presentation of a arbitration process against Maersk.
According to PPC, the decision arose from what it described as “the take” of the port terminals in Panama, a process that attributes to the participation of APM Terminalsdesignated as temporary operator after the cancellation of the contract.
In a statement, the company said that Maersk “undermined the contract and aligned itself with the Republic of Panama in connection with its state campaign against CFP,” replacing it through “a takeover.”
For its part, Maersk assured that it does not consider itself responsible for the claims presented by the port company.
In a brief statement, the company confirmed that the process against it had been initiated and stated that “will attend to the corresponding forum.”
Audits with worrying results
After his tour, President Mulino answered some questions from the media. When asked about the audit of PPC management now that a new operator has entered, he indicated that it is an issue that falls within the Comptroller of the Republicbut he clarified that what he has seen “It is worrying.”
However, the president did not reveal further information, stating that he preferred to maintain discretion due to the ongoing arbitration process.
You might also be interested in reading: Maersk responds to PPC: ‘We are not responsible for claims’
Details of the raid have also not been known. Public Ministrywhich carried out an investigation in offices occupied by PPC in Albrook, three days after the company was evicted from the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal, where it operated under a concession for almost 30 years.
The Panamanian port map faces two global giants, Hutchison and Maersk, through their subsidiaries PPC and APM Terminals, in the midst of a transition in the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal under the gaze of the Mulino government.
