The Danish firm will replace Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison after Trump claimed the strategic waterway was controlled by China.

Danish company Maersk will temporarily operate Two ports on the Panama Canal A court ruled that a contract awarded to a Hong Kong company was unconstitutional.

The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) announced the changes on Friday, a day after the Central American country’s top court invalidated a port contract held by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison.

The court’s decision was subsequently repeated Threats from US President Donald Trump His country will seek to take over waterways that he claims are effectively controlled by China.

CK Hutchison’s contract to operate the port was “disproportionately biased” against the Hong Kong company, according to a court ruling that quashed the deal.

On Friday, AMP said port operator APM Terminals, owned by Maersk Group, would take over as “interim administrator” of the ports of Balboa and Cristobal at either end of the canal.

Maersk takes over from Panama Ports Company (PPC), a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings, which has managed the port since 1997, with the concession renewed in 2021 for 25 years.

The canal is a man-made waterway that handles approximately 40% of U.S. container traffic and 5% of world trade. The canal has been controlled by Panama since 1999, with the United States, which financed its construction between 1904 and 1914, relinquishing control.

Washington welcomed the decision on Friday, but Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing “will take all necessary measures to resolutely protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies”.

The PPC, for its part, said the ruling “lacked legal basis and jeopardized… the well-being and stability of thousands of Panamanian families who depend on its operations.”

Tens of thousands of workers dug the 82 kilometers (51 miles) of what would become the Panama Canal, allowing ships to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic without having to go around the northernmost or southernmost points of the Americas.

Panama has always denied that China controls the canal, which is mainly used by the United States and China.