Panama Canal Seeks To Develop Atlantic and Pacific Port Terminals

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has opened a consultation process with leading container lines and terminal operators to identify potential partners for the development of two new port terminals.

The terminals, one on the Pacific side and one on the Atlantic side of the waterway, are part of a project to expand transshipment capacity and relieve congestion in the interoceanic hub.

The invite-only working session followed the format used for the canal’s gas pipeline project and brought together representatives from major global port operators and shipping lines. 

This included APM Terminals, COSCO Shipping Ports, CMA Terminals-CMA, DP World, Hanseatic Global Terminals, MOL, PSA International, SSA Marine-Grupo Carrix, Terminal Investment Limited, CMA CGM, ONE, Evergreen, HapagLloyd, HMM, Maersk Line, MSC, OOCL, Yang Ming, ZIM and others.

As part of the process, the ACP will commission market and feasibility studies for both terminals before preparing a general project plan that will trigger a formal concession selection procedure. 

The process is expected to include a prequalification phase, an interactive dialogue with shortlisted candidates and a final award stage, with the concession selection due to conclude in the fourth quarter of 2026.

The ACP estimates the combined investment required at about $2.6 billion for both terminals and projects an economic impact equivalent to roughly 0.4-0.8% of Panama’s GDP. 

The two ports are intended to add around 5 million TEU of transshipment capacity per year, raising the country’s container handling capability markedly and reinforcing Panama’s role as a leading intermodal hub.

The initiative aims to ease pressure on existing terminal capacity, which the authority says is operating close to its limits, and to strengthen Panama’s competitiveness by offering modern transhipment gateways on both sides of the Canal.

The ACP’s next steps will focus on completing the feasibility work and issuing the documentation to start the formal concession competition.
 

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