NLNG Shipping and Marine Services Limited (NSML) has restated its commitment towards improving the wellbeing of its workforce just as it attained 85 per cent Nigerianisation workforce.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, NSML, Abdulkadir Ahmed, stated this during the NSML Nigerian Fleet Officers Conference held in Lagos recently.

He said the shipping firm holds in high esteem, its workforce, who are a very important aspect of its businesses as they lead and manage the most important assets, including the vessels.

Recall that the third quarter 2023 seafarers happiness index report showed an overall fall in global seafarers happiness to 6.6 out of 10, compared to 6.77 in the second quarter and 7.1 in the first quarter.

The quarterly survey conducted by The Mission to Seafarers measured the wellbeing of seafarers through 10 key questions about their work and life, designed to gauge sentiment about their experiences on board.

Ahmed said the company brings its officers on board its vessels together to interact and socialise with the leadership, while the management reviews the performance of the company and charts the way forward to ensure a better working environment and welfare for the officers.

“The concept of the officers conference, because they are all at sea, sometimes they are all going from one location to the other. Every two years we try to bring them ashore to spend some time with us in the office, review the performance of the company, discuss challenges, provide solutions, and most importantly, align ourselves into the best direction we are going,” he said.

Speaking on the ratio of Nigerians to foreigners among the company’s workforce, Ahmed said NSML attained 85 per cent of Nigerian officers in the team in December 2022 and has maintained 15 per cent for foreign officers, to ensure cross-cultural fertilisation according to global standards.

“If you recall, our generalisation objective was always about having the full spectrum and complement of Nigerian officers to man our vessels. However, as we always know, we are an international company with international seagull investors. So we wanted to always keep a certain number of foreign officers for cross-cultural fertilisation.

“We set the target of Nigerian officers at 85 per cent, which we have attained and we are maintaining that. The idea is to have a full complement. So if we need to have a full complement of Nigerian officers today, we can do that. But we are deliberate in keeping 15 per cent for foreign officers, just to ensure that we have that cross-cultural fertilisation,” he said.