Ushuaia Workers Warn Takeover Risks Antarctic Cruise Season

Port workers in Ushuaia warned that the 2026-27 Antarctic cruise season can no longer be assured while Argentina’s federal port authority continues to control one of the country’s main cruise ports. The workers, who belong to the Provincial Port Directorate, said more than 140 employees have been locked out since Jan. 22 following the National Ports and Navigation Agency’s intervention at the terminal.

The warning complicates planning for cruise lines and expedition operators at a port that ANPYN said handled 495 vessel calls and more than 135,000 passengers during the 2025-26 season. Ushuaia is both a port of call and a homeport for Antarctic and South America voyages; CruiseMapper listed about 548 ship calls and 195,000 visitors for the 2023-24 season.

Workers threaten longer protests during next season

In an open letter, the workers wrote: “Under the current circumstances, guarantees for the 2026-27 season can no longer be assured.”

The workers said they kept the just-ended season from being fully disrupted because the cruise program had already been planned by the port directorate. Even so, protest actions during the 2025-26 season included roadblocks on the main access route to the port, delaying fuel trucks, food supplies, waste removal, maritime agents, passenger transport and other services tied to vessel calls.

Franco Gaston Castillo, former administrative accounting director at the Port of Ushuaia and a representative of the displaced workers, told Cruise Industry News the workers are demanding the end of the federal intervention and reinstatement to their positions at the provincially operated port.

Castillo also identified Punta Arenas, Chile, as the likely alternative if expedition operators choose to avoid Ushuaia during a conflict. Punta Arenas, on the Strait of Magellan, is used as an embarkation point for Antarctic and Falklands expedition voyages, including fly-cruise programs, though it sits farther north than Ushuaia.

Federal takeover has widened into funding and political dispute

ANPYN Executive Director Iñaki Miguel Arreseygor ordered the intervention after allegations of financial irregularities and infrastructure failures at the port. The agency has said 33 percent of the port’s budget had been used to subsidize provincial government accounts, despite rules requiring port revenues to be reinvested in port infrastructure and operations, while 1.3 percent went to works and services aimed at improving operating quality.

The workers reject the basis for the takeover and allege that port revenues are now being sent to a national bank account without transparency over who controls or audits it. Tierra del Fuego Governor Gustavo Melella has also opposed the intervention, describing it as unfounded and suggesting possible geopolitical motives tied to U.S. interests in Antarctica.

Security documents and health access fuel additional concerns

In a May 18 letter to international cruise industry stakeholders, the workers said the terminal is operating with PBIP port security certificates and environmental emergency plans issued to the Provincial Port Directorate, not to ANPYN.

The workers point to a Jan. 14 certification by Argentina’s Coast Guard stating that the Port of Ushuaia met international safety standards through 2029, days before the federal takeover began. They allege the original PBIP certificate disappeared before the intervention and that a duplicate was delivered to ANPYN but not returned to the Provincial Port Directorate.

The ISPS Code, mandatory under SOLAS Chapter XI-2, applies to passenger ships on international voyages and to the port facilities serving them. It requires an approved port facility security plan, a security assessment and a designated Port Facility Security Officer.

The federal-control dispute has also affected provincial health access after a hantavirus outbreak aboard Hondius, which departed Ushuaia on April 1. Diario del Fin del Mundo reported that provincial health officials were denied access to the port to conduct contact tracing and obtain passenger manifests, forcing the Provincial Port Directorate to request passenger lists from the national immigration office because ANPYN did not cooperate.

The next Antarctic cruise season begins in October. Castillo said that if the intervention remains in place, protest measures could run “for longer periods or for an indefinite time.”