Most Pilots Have Stopped Accepting New Assignments, Honoring Only Pre-strike Contracts

Argentina's main ports have ground to a halt, with over 150 ships stranded across the country's waterways as harbor pilots and river guides strike since Saturday over a decree by President Javier Milei deregulating their profession. The pilots, independent professionals with specialized knowledge of local waterways, are mandatory for guiding vessels in and out of ports and along inland rivers. Agribusiness sources told Ámbito that more than 150 ships cannot enter or leave ports due to the lack of pilotage services, disrupting domestic and international trade and fuel supplies.

The decree, issued last week, overhauls maritime pilotage regulations to cut logistics costs and boost foreign trade competitiveness, allowing Argentine and foreign captains to operate without local pilots if they obtain certification of waterway knowledge. Most pilots have stopped accepting new assignments, honoring only pre-strike contracts. The stoppage is not a traditional union-organized strike, as pilots are independent professionals, but has backing from the Professional Association of Captains and River Guides of the Merchant Marine.

The Labor Secretariat cannot intervene without an employer-employee dispute. Over the weekend, the Argentine Coast Guard warned pilots to return to work or face sanctions, including criminal complaints, while the association said the Security Ministry and Presidency's Legal Secretariat offered talks, but it will negotiate only if the decree is repealed or suspended. Government sources told Ámbito they may file criminal complaints and impose lifetime bans on striking pilots. The association voiced safety concerns, stating pilots should not accept new assignments until legal and operational certainty is restored, warning of risks to navigation, human life, and the environment, and arguing that pilot duties cannot be replaced by vessel command under technical and regulatory circumstances.