The sale of two ports near the Panama Canal to a global consortium led by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) threatens the canal's principle of neutrality, the canal's head Ricaurte Vasquez told the Financial Times.

"There is a potential risk of capacity concentration if the deal comes the way it is structured as we understand right now,” Vasquez told the FT in a report published on Tuesday.

"If there is a significant level of concentration on terminal operators belonging to an integrated or one single shipping company, it will be at the expense of Panama's competitiveness in the market and inconsistent with neutrality."

MSC is one of the world's top container shipping groups. MSC and the Panama Canal Authority did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

CK Hutchison confirmed last month that MSC, run by the family of Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte, was the main investor in a group seeking to buy 43 ports, including the two ports in Panama, for $22.8 billion.