From left: Manager, Maritime Centre of Excellence MCOE and Training, NLNG Ship Management Limited NSML, Dr. Effiong Attah; representative of NIMASA, Tony Okhai, Managing Director, NSML, Abdulkabir Ahmed; President, Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria SCAN, Eugene Agha; Head, External Relations, NSML, Anne-Marie Palmer Ikuku; Fleet Manager, NSML, Captain Ahmed Yusuf Hambali; and Manager, Human Resources, NSML, Henry Agbodjan at a conference organised by SCAN in Lagos, Wednesday.

The NLNG Ship Management Limited NSML, a subsidiary of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas NLNG Limited has said that only Nigerian Seafarers pay tax globally, insisting that most international seafarers do not pay tax

Speaking at an annual conference organised by the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria SCAN in Lagos Wednesday, Fleet Manager of the NSML, Hambali Yusuf said the practice in Nigeria whereby the Federal Government mandatorily makes tax deductions on the incomes of international seafarers remains a disincentive to the seafarers who might want to enroll in the country.

While fielding questions from newsmen at the training conference with the theme: “NLNG Vessels Movement and Challenges”, the Fleet Manager disclosed that for 16 years he was an international seafarer in Nigeria and he was made to pay taxes over the period.

He also disclosed that in many other shipping climes including India, the Seafarers are not subjected to such tax deductions, which he insists would continue to be a disincentive to many seafarers, who might want to enroll in the country.

“For 16 years, I was an international seafarer in this country and I was made to pay tax to the government but in countries like India and others, there are exceptions to tax payment for seafarers.

“Specifically in India, if you are not in the country for seven months, you would not be compelled to pay any tax. But in Nigeria if you are not around for a whole year you are still going to pay tax and you know the taxes here are graded depending on your grade.

“If you are a seafarer and you see where you can go and you are paid fully without tax deductions, naturally you would like to go there and the implication is that you attract foreign exchange to such country and so you can see that Nigeria is losing since many of her few indigenous seafarers might enroll elsewhere”, the Fleet Manager also said.

As a way out of this, he made a strong case for media advocacy in order to educate the government on the medium and long term effects of imposing tax deductions on international seafarers in the country and what is obtainable elsewhere.

President of the association, Eugene Agha in his opening remarks, there was urgent need to improve the knowledge and skills of the media practitioners in line with the changing trends in the global energy arena. This, he argued would enable them inform the stakeholders continually of the opportunities and risks inherent in the sector, which has the potential to attract more investments needed to further reposition the sector, address its challenges and engender healthier competition and more gains in Nigeria’s overall interest said.

This, according to him is also given that gas, which Nigeria has vast deposit in her coastal areas, was not only the future of global energy exploration and usage, but also remains the country’s future huge source of revenue and job creation not oil as recent developments in the global oil market have shown.