New Telegraph

Nigeria loses seamen to foreign countries over tax

Foreign nations have poached Nigerian seafarer due to tax related issues. According to Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas NLNG Shipping Management Limited (NSML), shortage of skilled seafarers in the senior level cadres aboard vessels has affected Nigeria and other countries globally.

The company noted that Nigeria was losing so many seafarers to foreign nations due to tax. Also, findings by New Telegraph revealed that global demand for seafarers is estimated at 1.56 million, with the industry requiring approximately 790,500 officers and 754,500 ratings. This indicates that the demand for officers has increased by around 24.1 per cent, while the demand for ratings has increased by around 1.0 per cent. The Fleet Manager of NSML, Hambali Yusuf, said that Nigeria was the only nation of the world where seafarers pay tax. He said in Lagos that advocacy and aggressive campaign could make the government to see reasons on the need for seamen to stop tax payment. The fleet manager restated the need for advocacy to let the government know how these things are done outside the country. Yusuf explained: “In India, if you are not in the country for seven months, you won’t pay any tax. But, in Nigeria, if you are not around for a whole year, you are still going to pay taxes and you know the tax are graded depending on your grade.

“If you are a seafarer and you see where you can go and be paid fully without tax being deducted, won’t you like to go there? “There needs to be advocacy to let the government know what is obtainable elsewhere. Some international seafarers don’t border for pensions.” According to him, in Nigeria, pensions are deducted in dollars, but paid back to them in naira. Also, the Managing Director of NSML, Mr. Abdulkadir Ahmed, complained in Lagos that there was a global shortage of skilled officers in the maritime industry. Speaking at a training programme put together by journalists under the umbrella of Shipping Correspondent Association of Nigeria (SCAN) with theme: ‘NLNG Vessels: Movement and Challenges,’ he noted that there was scarcity of qualified and competent officers rising manberth ratios and a continued fleet attractiveness of a career at sea. He noted that ship growth was likely to result in the highest shortfall of officers in the coming years. Ahmed said: “There is a global shortage of skilled officers in the maritime industry. Industry sources point to an expected to persist into the future.

Diminishing increasing demand for qualified seafarers, particularly the officers and this situation is globally.” In 2021, there was fear that there could be a shortage of merchant sailors to crew commercial ships between 2021 and 2026 if action is not taken to boost numbers, raising risks for global supply chains. According to a study by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), shipping industry is already struggling with crewing shortfalls due to the Coronavirus pandemic, a situation that will exacerbate expected labour supply problems over the next few years.I am happy It noted: “The Delta variant of coronavirus hit hard in parts of Asia and prompted many nations to cut off land access for sailors. That’s left captains unable to rotate weary crews and about 100,000 seafarers stranded at sea beyond their stints, in a flashback to 2020 and the height of lockdowns when over 200,000 merchant sailors were stuck on ships.” The study estimated that 1.89 million seafarers were operating over 74,000 vessels in the global merchant fleet. Also, the seafarer workforce report, which was last published in 2015, predicted that an additional 89,510 officers would be needed by 2026, based on projections for growth in shipping trade. It said there was a current shortfall of some 26,240 certified officers, indicating that demand for seafarers had outpaced supply in 2021. The ICS’ Secretary General, Guy Platten, added: “We are far beyond the safety net of workforce surplus that protects the world’s supply of food, fuel and medicine.”

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