The Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) Ship Management Limited has said that it is only Nigerian seaferers that pay taxes globally.
The Fleet Manager, NSML, Hambali Yusuf, said this on Wednesday in Lagos at an annual conference organized by the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria.
The conference was themed, “NLNG Vessels Movement and Challenges.”
Explaining further, Yusuf said that in India, seafarers were exempted from paying taxes.
“In India, if you are not in the country for seven months, you will not 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 taxes are graded depending on your grade.”
Yusuf disclosed that the nation was losing many seafarers to foreigners due to the tax problem.
“If you are a seafarer and you see where you can go and be paid fully without tax deductions, you would like to do there.”
He expressed the need for advocacy to let the government know how things were done outside the country.
“There is a need for an advocacy to let the government know what is obtainable elsewhere. Some international seafarers do not border for pensions.”
Yusuf explained that it was difficult to embark on dry dock in Nigeria because the facilities in the country would not be able to handle the size of ships the agency has.
“Our ships are 283-metre length and 45 metres in width, and there is no place in Nigeria now that can accommodate that size of ship. We would have loved to dry dock in Nigeria because it would have been easier for us than to move hundred of nautical miles away. You know it will also cost some money to do that outside the country,” he said.
Earlier, the President of SCAN, Mr Eugene Agha, had said that gas was not only the future of global energy exploration and usage, but also Nigeria’s huge source of revenue and employment.
“The changing trends in the global energy sector demands a corresponding improvement and updating of the knowledge and skills of the media practitioners. This will help them to continually avail stakeholders the opportunities and risks inherent in this sector, which can attract more enabling legislation to reposition the sector, tackle challenges and pull healthier competition and more gains,’’ he said.
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