China detained Panamanian-registered ships, triggering wave of registration changes: 642 ships were transferred out in the first half of the year

China and Panama are at loggerheads over the canal port dispute. Beijing has significantly stepped up inspections and detentions of Panamanian-registered ships this year, triggering a rare wave of registration changes. The latest statistics show that 642 ships have transferred out of Panamanian flags in the first half of the year, of which 104 have switched to the flag of the Marshall Islands, a friendly country of Taiwan, ranking first among all transfer destinations. Chinese shipowners are the largest group in this wave of exodus.

Shipping media Xinde Maritime cited data from World Fleet Register, a subsidiary of Clarksons Research, which showed that in the first half of 2026, a total of 642 ships were transferred out of the Panamanian flag, while only 150 ships were transferred in during the same period, resulting in a net loss of 492 ships.

The speed of reregistration increased sharply especially in the second quarter. In April, 86 ships left Panama, which increased to 150 ships in May and to 266 ships in June. In just three months, 502 ships left, accounting for 78% of the total transfers in the first half of the year.

Independent statistics from the authoritative shipping media Lloyd's List Intelligence also show the same trend. Data show that a total of 264 ships left the Panamanian registry in June, a 47% increase from 180 ships in May. They described this as a departure wave not seen in the past 20 years. The statistics for June between the two shipping databases only differed by 2 ships.

It is worth noting that in this wave of "Great Escape", Chinese shipowners were the most active. Clarksons data shows that among the 642 ships transferred out of Panamanian flags in the first half of the year, 240 were related to Chinese shipowners, accounting for 37%, ranking first among all countries and regions. There were another 18 ships owned by Hong Kong shipowners; 81 ships were owned by Japanese shipowners, 35 ships were owned by Singapore, and 34 ships were owned by Taiwan-related shipowners.

Data from Lloyd's List also supports this trend. In June alone, 70 ships with Chinese interests left the Panamanian flag, including 50 ships from China and 20 ships from Hong Kong. They were the largest group of known shipowners that month.

After the ship was diverted from Panamanian registration, the biggest subsequent beneficiary turned out to be the Marshall Islands, a friendly country of Taiwan. According to Clarksons statistics, a total of 104 ships transferred to the Marshall Islands flag in the first half of the year, accounting for 16% of the 642 ships, ranking first among all transfer destinations; the Bahamas ranked second with 97 ships, and Liberia ranked third with 64 ships. The top three destinations absorbed a total of 265 ships.

In fact, there are already signs of this trend. When Lloyd's List counted at the beginning of June, 54 ships leaving Panama had transferred the flag of the Marshall Islands, which was the largest transfer destination at the time; by Clarksons' statistics in the first half of the year, the number had rapidly increased to 104 ships.

The turmoil originated from the Panama Supreme Court's ruling at the end of January this year to revoke the franchise rights of CK Hutchison, a subsidiary of Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing, in ports at both ends of the Panama Canal. Subsequently, China frequently seized Panamanian-flagged ships in retaliation. After China and Brazil launched shipping negotiations in July, the number of ship arrests declined. There were still new cases in August, bringing the total for the year to more than 500.