by Stas Margaronis
Mariners stranded by the Iran War in the Strait of Hormuz are facing food and water shortages, shore leave for mariners working on commercial vessels is disappearing and the Trump administration extended a Jones Act waiver outsourcing American maritime jobs, these were some of the highlights of the Propeller Club Maritime Day 2026 presentations.
The Propeller Club of Northern California presentations included a dramatic presentation provided by Nick Marrone, retired Vice President, Seafarers International Union: Marrone presented a video documentary reporting on the plight of 20,000 mariners stranded on ships in the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran War.
NO FOOD AND WATER
The documentary features Mohamed Arrachedi, International Transport Workers Federation who wakes up every morning to dozens of WhatsApp messages. For example, a sailor on a cargo ship in the Persian Gulf hasn’t been paid for months; on another vessel, mariners are running out of food. As the regional coordinator for the International Transport Workers’ Federation, Arrachedi is one of the few people to whom sailors, stranded since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, can turn to for help.
So far, Arrachedi and his team have received more than 2,000 requests for assistance. Conditions in the Strait, he said, are getting worse. “There is absolutely no precedent to what is happening now,”
LITTLE MEDIA ATTENTION
Marrone decried the situation: “Yes, it’s a combination of everything by these vessels being totally isolated and unable to be supplied with absolute necessary materials such as food, water, medical attention and mail. A lot of these seafarers haven’t been paid because the vessels have been stuck there. And the owners, they’re not getting paid because they haven’t delivered their product … I’m speaking on behalf of all seafarers in this regard because it is critical. We don’t get the recognition that we deserve. We are considered expendable. Nineteen vessels have been fired upon in the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and there’s been deaths of seafarers. And yet it, it is not front-page news.”
Marrone added: “We would be going nuts if truck drivers were getting shot randomly for delivering product if railroad workers were being killed or our domestic maritime.”
Marrone said there are no simple answers and there was a need “to get some worldwide protocol, minimum standards, guarantees, or protection … protecting the seafarer as a human being.”
Commenting on the documentary, Sam Levens, Northern California Inspector, International Transport Workers Federation spoke of Arrachedi’s commitment to mariners: “Mohammed, who’s in that video, he’s amazing. He was actually one of the people that trained me. And I look up to him so much. Unfortunately, international seafarers … are seen as being an invisible workforce. When ships come into the Port of Oakland, people see the cargo and the vessel. They don’t think that there’s human beings on board that ship. In terms of what’s going on in the Strait of Hormuz, it’s absolutely correct. Like there’s been zero international outcry about the conditions of these seafarers.”
SHORE LEAVE IS DISAPPEARING
Robert Wilkins, Executive Director, Seafarers Ministry of the Golden Gate (SMGG), presented a survey entitled “Shore Leave: Rare, Brief and In Danger of Extinction” which included the findings that “… 26% of seafarers have no shore leave whatsoever during their entire contract period. This is a study that’s done with about 6,000 seafarers all across the world. We also look at when they do get shore leave, how much time do they spend ashore? Virtually everyone spends less than six how much time do they spend ashore? Virtually everyone spends less than six hours, less than a full shift. They get off of the shift. Most of them spend less than three hours ashore. So, it’s a very, very, very short time. The question is, why is that the case? First of all, there is a lack of time that they have in port … particularly a lot of paperwork that has to do with a lot of regulations that are coming into play.”
In addition, agreements safeguarding their shore leave are frequently violated.
There is also a problem of distance from terminals to urban areas: “Ports are far away from cities. The Bay Area is very unusual in that most of our ports are pretty close to the urban setting, not very far that you have to go to get to where people are and where there are stores and various other sites that seafarers want to see.”
There is also the problem of Port state restrictions prohibiting “seafarers to get off if they don’t have visas.”
Wilkins said the result is a great deal of stress on the mariner which he and his team at SMGG frequently observe: “Ninety-five percent of mariners have no weekly day off … so work-related stress is very high. This is at the level of severe and potentially dangerous levels … Utilizing the World Health Organization standards indicates that almost half of U.S. seafarers have some traces of mental (harm) … as compared to globally it’s about 37%, and that gap is a little bit disturbing … This survey also indicates that about 45% of the US respondents to this survey indicated they intend to leave the industry within the next three to five years. That is cause for great concern.”
Darlene Plumtree, CEO, San Francisco Maritime National Park Association, runs the San Francisco Maritime Museum. Plumtree said the Museum’s “role in all of this is to record these historical events. So, at some point in the future, I’m sure that people will come to us … we have a large … reference library. People will come to us and look back on the history to see what’s happening here in this situation that we’ve just been briefed on. It’s pretty shocking. I’ve heard a little bit about it, but this morning’s presentation was pretty thorough and even more shocking than what I’ve heard on the news. I agree that there isn’t enough media attention on this.”
ILWU ORGANIZES EVERGREEN CLERICAL WORKERS
Plumtree was followed by Peter Olney, retired Organizing Director, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) who reported that the ILWU had recently organized clerical workers employed by Evergreen Marine Corporation: “I want to make quick mention of an ILWU organizing victory that bodes well for the future of the union. Our L.A. based Local 63 a clerical unit … successfully completed an organizing drive in Dallas, Texas, a right to work state. Seventy-one workers for Evergreen ratified their first contract in December. Their salaries went from $38,000 to $50,000 per year to a starting salary of $110,000 with major benefit improvements. This is an example of using longshore power to march inland and organize along the supply chain using the port power of the union.”
JAPANESE DOCKWORKERS
Olney described his March visit to Japan where he met with “The National Federation of Japanese Dock Workers. They are historically a union, closely allied with the ILWU.”
In the meeting with Japanese dock workers Olney learned that “Port volumes in Japan’s major ports, Yokohama, Kobe, and Osaka have declined with the offshoring of manufacturing to China, Korea, and Singapore, whose ports have grown in volume. In 2018, there was an agreement struck on automation to modernize the terminals. But the union represents that employment has remained steady. Youth employment is difficult. It’s difficult to recruit young workers. The jobs are manual labor, tough work …Dock worker compensation in Japan is about 25% of U.S. dock worker wages. But of course, keep in mind, the Japanese cost of living is much lower than ours.”
JONES ACT
Torey Presti is President National Shipping; a U.S. Jones Act carriers operating between Houston and Puerto Rico. Presti said the Trump administration’s imposition of a waiver to the Jones Act in March, and since extended, allows foreign flag carriers to transport petroleum products between U.S. ports so as to reduce U.S. gasoline prices.
Presti said the waiver was ineffective:
“In 2017, Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria … President Trump called for a waiver … it was a waiver because of natural disasters and national emergencies … it only lasted 10 days. It was not a waiver like we have today … going out to 150 days which makes no … sense to me.”
The Trump administration argued that the present waiver was necessary to reduce gasoline prices:” The difference in the cost of using a Jones Act vessel gets down to about a cent and a half to 2 cents per gallon.”
NATIONAL SHIPPING SERVICE TO PUERTO RICO
Presti said National Shipping’s Jones Act service to Puerto Rico is one of several U.S. flag services that acts as a public utility to guarantee adequate imports and export services that foreign flag carriers would not provide: “Puerto Rico is actually spoiled by the frequency and transit times and the different types of containers …They get 53-foot containers. You don’t see that in the international trade …When you have a crisis … like Hurricane Maria … you have these, all of the carriers supporting … a fast transit time … with emergency goods… You can’t imagine a foreign flag shipping company, whether it’s China or Russia … giving the (same) service … to San Juan and Puerto Rico.”
