What Happened
Panama has ordered the expropriation of 41 properties on Isla Margarita, in Colón, ending Panama Colón Container Port’s control over the land tied to a long-delayed port and container yard project. The decision follows the earlier cancellation of the maritime concessions that covered 81.5 hectares of seabed for the planned development.
The expropriation was formalized in Executive Decree 90 of October 20, 2025, signed by President José Raúl Mulino and Minister of the Presidency Juan Carlos Orillac. The measure affects land adjacent to the former maritime concession, where the company had planned a terminal near the bay of Manzanillo and close to Colón Container Terminal in Coco Solo.
Why the Government Moved
Officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Comptroller General were unable to enter the area to carry out the required appraisals of the port works. In September 2025, both institutions sent notices stating that the proceedings could not advance because the owners of the properties could not be contacted at their supposed offices and the legal representative firm did not authorize the inspections.
That impasse pushed the government to take the land by expropriation. The measure also reflects a broader effort to resolve the legal and financial deadlock surrounding a project that has spent years stalled while obligations to the state accumulated.
A Project With a Long History
The land was originally national property. Isla Margarita was the first U.S. military installation reverted to Panama in 1979 under the Torrijos-Carter treaties signed two years earlier. In 1985, the land was transferred to the Municipality of Colón, which later segregated and sold it. Panama Colón Container Port acquired the properties through different transactions and later sought maritime concessions in 2013.
The Maritime Authority of Panama granted two concessions: 54.13 hectares for a container yard and 27.38 hectares for the port. The concessions were elevated to the status of a law-contract and approved by then-President Ricardo Martinelli on June 18, 2013.
Audit Findings and Mounting Obligations
A 2021 Comptroller audit found that the company had completed only 15% of the project, despite having committed to invest $300.9 million in the terminal and $105.1 million in the yard. Construction had already been halted for three years, according to AMP board records.
By then, the company also owed fees and charges to the Maritime Authority and had expired performance bonds and insurance policies. On June 23, 2021, the AMP board ordered its administrator to terminate the contract, but the concession remained in place after the company partnered with Notarc Management Group of the Bahamas and presented a rescue plan. That arrangement led to an addendum extending the concession through 2042.
The problems did not end there. The project remained stagnant, payment obligations continued, and the company later sought another addendum to change the development schedule, citing force majeure. The AMP also found that while the company was seeking contractual changes, it had filed an administrative lawsuit over an alleged tacit denial tied to the force majeure claim.
Additional Legal Pressure
Panama Colón Container Port is also facing disputes with private parties. Landbridge Port Services, a Hong Kong company, filed a lawsuit in Delaware claiming ownership of 51% of PCCP shares. In Panama, Landbridge Port also filed a civil suit against PCCP and related companies, and a judge ordered the seizure of 50 properties, including the 41 now expropriated.
Another civil court had previously ordered a seizure on the same lands in a separate case filed by Slatan Panama Construction, S.A., over $1.4 million in capital, costs and expenses. With the expropriation now in force, the Public Registry must record the change and the Public Ministry will move forward with determining the compensation the state must pay for the land.
The case places one of Colón’s most ambitious port projects at the center of a widening legal dispute involving state obligations, private ownership claims and years of unfinished development.