The United States Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is empowered to investigate whether the inspections that China conducts on Panamanian-flagged vessels in its ports constitute a practice contrary to U.S. foreign maritime trade, and could apply corrective measures against Chinese shipping companies active in that market. This was warned this Tuesday by Laura DiBella, commissioner of the agency, in a statement released by the United States Embassy in Panama.
DiBella described the detentions as “unjustified and retaliatory in nature” and stated that Beijing is using the port state control protocol—a maritime safety inspection mechanism—as an instrument of political pressure. The trigger was the January 30, 2026, ruling by the Panamanian Supreme Court of Justice, which declared unconstitutional the concession that Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison, had held since 1997 to operate the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals. The government of President José Raúl Mulino executed the ruling in February and transferred provisional management to subsidiaries of Maersk and MSC. CK Hutchison called the measure illegal, initiated international arbitration, and is claiming compensation exceeding $2 billion.
The increase in detentions has been drastic. According to data from the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding compiled by the Panama Maritime Chamber, detentions grew by 145% in the second quarter of 2026. Throughout the first half of the year, some 470 detentions were recorded, a figure that already exceeds the 256 for all of 2025. At the peak of the campaign, in March, more than three-quarters of all ships detained in the Asia-Pacific region were Panamanian vessels detained in China.
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The Panamanian-flagged vessel Crimson Delight, in Panama City, Panama, on March 27, 2026.
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The magnitude of the phenomenon makes the dispute a matter of direct interest to Washington. The Panama Maritime Authority registers 8,638 flagged vessels with 233.2 million gross tonnage, and the FMC points out that this fleet carries a significant portion of US containerized trade. “The world cannot simply normalize these continuous detentions, as this would set an extremely negative precedent for the global supply chain,” stated DiBella. Beijing denied political pressure and maintains that the detentions are due to technical criteria, although the South China Morning Post reported, citing an industry source, that China issued informal directives to intensify them following the transfer of the terminals.
President Mulino acknowledged before the National Assembly last week that detentions are showing a downward trend, but warned that the cumulative impact could affect the fleet’s rating in the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding, the regional registry assessment system in Asia-Pacific. As an operational response, the Maritime Authority enabled 24-hour service for shipowners to reduce response times to incidents.
The FMC’s warning comes days before a diplomatic meeting: Chinese and Panamanian officials will meet from July 16 to 18 in China to address the detentions and renew the 2017 bilateral Maritime Transport Agreement, which grants the Panamanian fleet Most Favored Nation status in Chinese ports. The Panamanian delegation will be led by Luis Roquebert, Director General of the Maritime Authority. If the investigation that the FMC has the authority to open concludes that Chinese practices harm U.S. foreign trade, shipping companies from that country active in the U.S. market could face direct regulatory consequences.
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