Panama's Supreme Court last month invalidated Hutchison's contract following repeated threats from President Donald Trump that the United States would seek to reclaim the waterway, which he said was in effect controlled by China.

The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) then said port operator APM Terminals, part of the Danish Maersk Group, would temporarily take over operation of the Balbao and Cristobal ports on either side of the canal from the Panama Ports Company (PPC) -- a subsidiary of CK Hutchison.

The canal, which handles about 40 percent of US container traffic and five percent of world trade, was built by the United States, which operated it for a century before ceding control to Panama in 1999.

The PPC has initiated arbitration proceedings, and in a statement Thursday, CK Hutchison warned that handing control of the ports to Maesk "will cause damages... and will result in recourse against APMT.

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