Our correspondent, Iberum P&I Correspondents, has informed us that the National Union of Port Administration Workers (SNTAP) in Portugal issued a strike notice on 7 October, 2025. The action targets all continental port administrations and is set to unfold over five two-day periods starting later this month.
The strike stems from the port authorities’ alleged failure to honour a previous agreement on hourly pay. The intermittent strike will suspend key services during the following 48-hour windows, each running from 00:00 to 24:00:
- October 27–28, 2025
- October 31–November 1, 2025
- November 4–5, 2025
- November 7–8, 2025
These periods are strategically spaced to maximize pressure while allowing brief respites for potential talks. Notably, the action excludes ports in the Madeira and Azores archipelagos, as well as mainland operations involving vessels bound for or originating from these autonomous regions. The strike will halt several essential services provided by port authority workers, potentially grounding inbound and outbound shipping, including the availability of pilots or inbound and outbound vessels. In addition the following will be effected:
- Mooring personnel: In ports where this is handled by authority staff, ships will be unable to secure properly.
- Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) operators: Critical monitoring and coordination of maritime traffic will cease.
- Port clearance platform staff: The digital system for vessel entry and exit approvals will be offline.
- Fresh water supply teams: Bunkering services in affected ports will be unavailable.
These disruptions will impact operations in all affected Portugal’s ports and members are advised to expected increased delays in all operations as a result. As soon as there are developments we will provide an update.
For questions or assistance, we invite members to contact the NNPC-claims team via claims@nnpc-marine.com.
