Ferry workers stopped sailing at 05:30 on 10 November, leaving vessels tied at the main harbour and cancelling every scheduled crossing that morning. The city said about 2,600 residents across three outlying islands rely on the route for routine travel, deliveries and connections to hospitals on the mainland.
The walkout escalates a six-month dispute between the privately run Aonami Sea Link and its crew union over wages and a proposed reduction in services. The operator says rising fuel and maintenance costs have made the current timetable unaffordable; workers say cuts would leave island residents with too few reliable crossings.
Crossings stop at dawn
The union said 74 deckhands, engineers and port staff joined the stoppage, its first full-day strike in 14 years. Union representative Arnold Nábělek said members had rejected a 1.8% pay increase, arguing it did not cover higher living costs or compensate for additional shifts. “People cannot keep filling the gaps with unpaid hours,” he said.
The operator has kept one vessel available for urgent medical transfers, but it would sail only if requested by local authorities. Regular freight, school transport and passenger services were suspended. At the harbour, crates of vegetables and parcels remained on the quay as residents queued to ask when the next crossing might run.
A new mayor inherits the dispute
The dispute now lands with Mayor Onome Israel, who took office eight days ago after winning a closely fought local election. During the campaign, Israel promised to protect island access but did not specify how the city would pay for the service. Aonami provides an annual subsidy to the ferry company, but the subsidy has not kept pace with its rising costs.
Israel said the city would seek talks with the union and operator on Tuesday and would not order workers back to sea. “A timetable that exists on paper but cannot be staffed is no service at all,” Israel said. The mayor’s office has offered to review the subsidy, while warning that any increase would require cuts elsewhere in the municipal budget.
For residents, the immediate worry is less about the labour dispute than about ordinary journeys that cannot wait. Marísa Hersveinns, who runs a small grocery on one of the islands, said she had already postponed a mainland supply run. She said the shop had enough staples for several days, but fresh food deliveries could not be guaranteed.
The union has called for a written commitment against further timetable cuts and a new pay offer before it suspends the strike. The company says it cannot promise either without additional public funding. Aonami’s finance office estimates that maintaining the current schedule would require ¥186 million (about €1.1 million) in extra annual support.
The city expects the ferry dispute to be discussed at an emergency council session on Thursday. Until then, officials are asking residents to postpone non-essential travel and have arranged for local clinics to review medicine supplies on the islands. Neither side has set a date for the next formal bargaining meeting.
