By Maria Kalamatas | July 18, 2025
Panama City, July 18 — Global shipping leader Maersk has launched a new logistics hub in Panama Pacifico, opening a 20,000-square-meter facility designed to speed up deliveries and streamline supply chains connecting Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
“This location isn’t just about storage — it’s a control tower for faster, more flexible logistics,” said Daniel Cortes, Regional Director for Latin America Logistics at Maersk. “We’re responding to rising demand for integrated, door-to-door visibility.”
Strategic crossroads between oceans
Built inside Panama’s key free trade zone, the new site links directly to both the Pacific Ocean port terminals and Tocumen International Airport, making it ideal for rapid multimodal transfers. The location also allows smooth customs processing, with bonded status reducing clearance times for high-value goods.
Cortes emphasized the dual-ocean advantage: “This is one of the few places globally where we can pivot cargo from Asia to either coast of the Americas in under 72 hours.”
Designed for speed and scale
The facility includes ambient and climate-controlled storage, kitting and labeling operations, and is fully connected to Maersk’s digital logistics platform. It is already handling consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, and apparel for major brands.
One early client, a Colombian electronics distributor, saw its average delivery time from East Asia cut by almost 40%.
“For us, time is currency,” said Mariana López, Supply Chain Manager at Easytronics Bogotá. “We used to rely on two forwarders and a regional warehouse — now, Maersk handles everything through Panama.”
Integrated operations, faster flows
With e-commerce and nearshoring trends accelerating, the Panama site is designed to serve both traditional retail and online distribution. Orders can be unpacked, relabeled, and dispatched in under 12 hours, a major benefit for seasonal inventory and last-mile partners.
“This changes how we build inventory strategies across Latin America,” López added. “We’re no longer shipping into one country and trucking across borders. It all flows from one central point.”
Future plans: robotics and regional inventory
Maersk has announced that phase two of the project, expected in early 2026, will include automation features such as robotic picking and dynamic shelving. Discussions are underway with multiple Fortune 500 clients to use the site as a regional inventory base.
“This hub will evolve into a regional anchor,” Cortes confirmed. “Our goal is to match the speed of air freight with the reliability and scale of ocean freight — from Panama outward.”
