About the administrative instructions

NSSO social security law determines that the general social security regime for workers shall not apply to seafarers in merchant shipping. Due to the specific working conditions inherent to the profession of seafarers and the traditions and peculiarities of seafaring, a special social security system is required for employees on board seagoing vessels who are bound to a merchant navy shipowner by a maritime employment contract.

For whom?

The social security for the merchant shipping sector is regulated by the legislative order of 7 February 1945 regarding the social security of seafarers in the merchant sector.

Given the trend towards flagging out to Luxembourg, the area of application of Regulation (EEC) 1408/71 was extended in 1991 to include seafarers employed on Luxembourg ships and registered in the pool of merchant navy seafarers. The legislator has even provided for the possibility of compulsory social security in Belgium for the crew in the event of employment under a foreign flag through a Belgian shipping company.

By Royal Decree of 18 February 1997 on measures to dissolve the maritime transport regime, seafaring employees in the service of a company operating in the maritime transport sector to and from an EU Member State were brought under the merchant shipping social security regime. Later, compulsory social security in Belgium for merchant seafarers was also extended to seafarers on seagoing tugs (2004) and in the dredging sector (2014).

The social security for other maritime sectors (fishery) falls outside the scope of these instructions. As mentioned above, the Belgium social security system not only applies to Belgian ships. The full field of application is set out in the first chapter.

Returns and the payment of contributions

The various contributions owed by shipowners and the seafarers themselves, deducted from the wages paid to the employee by the shipowner, are defined in legislation and decrees. They are united within a summary. The legally set reductions and/or exceptions within the limits set by the EC guidelines regarding government support for the maritime sectors, are discussed.

The shipowner must report the start and end of every employment period (i.e. the start and end of each trip) to the NSSO in the online service Dimona (in French). Please refer to the NSSO's administrative instructions to find out what you are required to report in Dimona (in French).

The shipowner indicates wage and working time details, social contributions and the applicable social contribution reductions in the online service DmfA (in French). Please refer to the NSSO's administrative instructions to find out what you are required to report in DmfA (in French).

The return and payment terms are those which apply to the relevant NSSO system. The shipowner may be subject to penalties if he fails to fulfil its obligations. In certain cases, late payment interest and contribution surcharges may be cancelled (in French).

In order to request inclusion of seafarers registered in the pool of seafarers and employed under a foreign flag (= non-EU, Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Switzerland or another country with which Belgium has concluded a social security treaty), please use the Application for subjection under foreign flag.