The confrontation between the National Government and ship pilots over the deregulation of inland navigation has taken an unprecedented leap in institutional seriousness. Through an edict published this Tuesday, August 4, 2026, in the Official Gazette of the Argentine Republic (BORA), the Argentine Naval Prefecture (PNA) formalized a mass notification and summons to the professionals in the sector, ordering them to make themselves immediately available and resume the public service of pilotage and pilotage.

Government institutions

The measure, officially signed by the National Naval Prefect, Guillermo José Giménez Pérez, comes at the most tense point of the operational lockout that is paralyzing access to the agro-export terminals of Greater Rosario and the entire country. The critical toll exceeds 140 stranded ships, with logistical losses estimated by the oilseed chamber (CIARA-CEC) of up to 100,000 dollars per day per immobilized vessel.

Disciplinary sanctions and loss of licenses

The edict notifies all the professionals listed in the official annex, summoning them to the “immediate availability of their professional pilotage/pilotage services, in order to regularly and in accordance with regulations perform the functions provided for in the Regulations approved by Decree No. 690/2026.”

On the administrative level, the maritime authority warned that refusal to provide the service will be classified as a “serious offense” contemplated in Annex I of the aforementioned decree. Judgment of the providers’ conduct will be processed under the Maritime, River and Lake Navigation Regime (REGINAVE, Decree No. 37/2025), enabling the application of the disciplinary sanctions provided for in articles 599.0101 and 599.0102, which range from suspensions to the definitive cancellation of professional authorizations.

Framing under the Criminal Code: up to 8 years in prison

Beyond the administrative sphere, the official edict escalates the confrontation by explicitly framing the protest actions under the Argentine Criminal Code, under the classification of Crimes against the safety of traffic and of means of transport and communication.

The BORA publication warns that any act aimed at facilitating or carrying out the interruption of the pilotage service may be reported criminally under two key articles:

• Article 190 of the Criminal Code: Establishes penalties of 2 to 8 years in prison for anyone who “knowingly carries out any act that endangers the safety of a vessel, floating construction or aircraft.”
• Article 194 of the Criminal Code: Provides for penalties of 3 months to 2 years in prison for anyone who “without creating a situation of common danger, prevents, hinders or obstructs the normal operation of transport by land, water or air or public services.”

A conflict at boiling point

This summons by national edict complements the personal notification writs that Prefecture agents began delivering by hand in recent hours — a procedure that was recorded on video by the pilots themselves and disseminated by SL24.

While the Navigation Center warns that the inactivity has already forced international shipowners to cancel calls in Argentina and divert freights to the ports of Montevideo and southern Brazil, the associations of Pilots, Pilots and Baqueanos reaffirmed the validity of the force measure and are intensifying the preparation of amparo actions in the Federal Courts to request the unconstitutionality of Decree 690/2026.

With the formal summons published in the Official Gazette and the threat of criminal cases on the table, the paralysis of the Argentine agro-export engine enters its most decisive hours.