Panama Ports Company S. A. A member of the Hutchison Port Holdings Group Port of Balboa Bldg. 39, Arnulfo Arias Madrid Ave. Balboa, Ancon, Panama Republic of Panama Tel: (507) 232-6025 Fax: (507) 232-6583 Mail troetsch.rommel@ppc.com.pa

[Panama - 6th November 2000] Panama Ports Company, S.A. announces the first vessel call of Maersk Sealand services at the Port of Balboa. The 4,300 TEU's Panamax vessel Marchen Maersk inaugurated the services when she called yesterday (Sunday) at the Port of Balboa Container Terminal.

These regular services operated by Maersk Sealand offer 5 weekly calls to and from the Port of Balboa covering the import and export needs of Panama and Latin America.

Commenting on the new services Mr. Alejandro Kouruklis General Manager of PPC, said:

"We are delighted that this major carrier has chosen to make the port of Balboa their port of call and transhipment hub for their services, which further enhances the options to serve Latin America regions. At the Port of Balboa we can offer a choice to every major carrier to transport cargo to and from Asia, and the East and West Coast of the Americas and the Caribbean".

Note to editors:

Panama Ports Company (PPC) operates the ports of Cristobal and Balboa located at each end of the Panama Canal. A major phased upgrade is underway to transform the two ports into major hubs to serve the Atlantic and Pacific trade routes. When modernisation is completed, PPC will have a combined annual handling capacity of 900,000 TEU.

PPC is a member of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), an independent port investor, developer and operator with operations in 19 ports in Asia, Europe and the Americas.