Tonnage Tax

(asked on 3rd December 2015) - View Source
Questioner
Ian Mearns Portrait
Ian Mearns
(Labour - Gateshead)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of UK seafarer (a) ratings and (b) officers were employed on UK registered vessels that qualified for the tonnage tax scheme in each year since 2000-01.

Answered by
Robert Goodwill Portrait
Robert Goodwill
This question was answered on 10th December 2015

Statistical estimates for the number of UK nationals employed as seafarers are available for calendar years from 2002 onwards. Data for 2015 is not yet available. Tonnage tax companies are required annually to inform the Department of the numbers of UK seafarers employed on their ships, as at 1 October each year. The table below gives an extrapolation of these figures to estimate the number and percentage of UK seafarer ratings and officers who were employed on UK registered vessels entered in the tonnage tax in each year from 2002 to 2014.

Number of UK nationals employed as seafarers: 2002 – 2014


2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008



Total UK ratings1

9,510

10,490

10,430

9,380

9,750

8,150

9,330

UK ratings employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax2

Not available

1,590

1,604

1,356

1,803

2,009

1,955

Percentage of total UK ratings employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax

Not available

15.2

15.4

14.5

18.5

24.6

21.0









Total UK officers (Certificated and uncertificated) 1

15,190

16,850

16,410

16,150

16,030

13,890

14,180

UK officers employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax2

Not available

2,337

2,435

2,342

2,380

2,438

2,367

Percentage of total UK officers employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax

Not available

13.9

14.8

14.5

14.8

17.6

16.7


2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014





Total UK ratings1

10,400

11,340

11,880

9,330

8,590

8,420


UK ratings employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax2

1,854

1,886

1,646

1,663

1,548

1,324


Percentage of total UK ratings employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax

17.8

16.6

13.9

17.8

18.0

15.7










Total UK officers (Certificated and uncertificated) 1

14,540

14,300

13,320

12,610

12,260

12,560


UK officers employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax2

2,201

2,078

1,869

1,835

1,583

1,418


Percentage of total UK officers employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax

15.1

14.5

14.0

14.6

12.9

11.3


Notes:

  1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Components may not sum to the totals due to rounding.

  1. Tonnage tax figures are as at 1 October of the year in question.

  1. Statistics for totals of Ratings and Uncertificated Officers are based on numbers employed by members of the UK Chamber of Shipping. No adjustment has been made for UK nationals employed by companies which are not members of the UK Chamber of Shipping.

  1. Statistics for Certificated Officers are based on certification data supplied by the MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency). Because certificates are valid for 5 years from the date of validation, for the purposes of these statistics it has been assumed that officers holding certificates retire from service at sea at age 62, and that 16 per cent of other officers with valid certificates are not actively employed at sea at any one time.

  1. At any time the number employed will be larger than the number actually serving on ship because of the need to have "relief" employees to cover shore leave.

Sources: UK Seafarer Statistics 2014, DfT; tonnage tax company returns to DfT

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