the channel issue 5

The ChannelA Renaissance Services SAOG Group Newsletter volume 2 issue 5

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The Channel is a digital bi-monthly internalnewsletter produced by RenaissanceServices which aims to reach everyemployee in each country of our worldwideoperations. Please do forward this to yourfellow team members and thank you!

NTI: Blue Ocean Strategy Workshop

CSG sponsors 2nd Oman FoodSafety Conference The two day of the conference featureda prestigious line-up of renownedspeakers and industry experts.

Vessel news:Caspian Provider

The Provider is pictured in Baku,Azerbaijan, preparing for thecommencement of a four year chartercontract with BP at a value ofUS$40m.

CSR: Oman Sail launchesWomen’s Programme

Renaissance Services and Oman Sailhave enjoyed a collaboration that hasextended into its third year in 2011.

Also Inside:

Topaz COO awarded prestigiousorder in Azerbaijan

Roy Donaldson has been awarded theFRIENDSHIP ORDER of Azerbaijan byDecree of the President of Azerbaijan forhis services to the country’s oil industry.

Diwali greetings to all! If you missed this card, please clickDiwali: http://www.nibblesoman.com/greeting/Diwali-Greeting/Dewali-Greeting.htm

Renaissance replaced traditional greeting cards with customized e-cards twoyears ago in a bid to go greener. So far in 2011, 11 e-cards have beenproduced, five of which in Flash animation.

OER prepares for Oman Debate 2011

TMM in Lloyd’s List 2011 Awards

October: Breast Cancer Awareness

Topaz wins at Seatrade Awards 2011

COO Roy Donaldson (centre) with Renaissance CEO Stephen Thomas (right) and BP and SOCAR officialsin Baku, Azerbaijan

COO awarded Friendship Order in Azerbaijan

The Caspian Provider is the 4th vessel to join theTopaz Marine Azerbaijan fleet of 20 vessels. The Provideris pictured in Baku, Azerbaijan, preparing for thecommencement of a four year charter contract at a valueof US$40m. The vessel was ordered in 2010 at a cost ofUS$32m and was built to exacting Norwegian standardsmeeting the requirements for client BP Azerbaijan.

The Provider is the latest and most advanced ofTopaz’s fleet of UT755L’s where in addition and hasincluded the addition of larger main engines, an extraaccommodation deck where the vessel can carry up to50 passengers and a strengthened pedestal to facilitatethe installation of a 60 ton crane.

The Provider departed Norway on July 19th for TuzlaShipyard in Turkey where the top two decks wereremoved to facilitate the 14.5m air draft required fortowage and transit through the Volga Don via Rostov.This is the first time that two decks have had to beremoved and is due to the increased size of theaccommodation block.

The UT 755L design was delivered to Topaz from theSimek Yard in Southern Norway. Topaz has built on anexceptional relationship thread with Simek over the pastseven years.

Caspian Provider

Renaissance Services’ Chief Operating Officer at Topaz Marine, Mr. RoyDonaldson, was awarded the FRIENDSHIP ORDER of Azerbaijan byDecree of the President of Azerbaijan for merits in development of thecountry’s oil industry.

On the occasion of Azerbaijan’s Oilman's Day on September 19,President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev decorated three foreign civilians withthe high honor of "Dostlug" or Friendship Order.

Under the Decree, three foreign specialists including Mr. Donaldson werepresented with the prominent Dostlug Order, in addition to 79 citizens ofAzerbaijan receiving commendable medals and titles on the occasion.

Stephen Thomas, CEO of Renaissance Services, commented on thedistinction saying, “Roy has earned this prestigious award on personal merit.In doing so he has brought great honor and recognition to our company, inparticular to BUE Caspian and Topaz Marine.”

Mr. Donaldson joined BUE Caspianin 2004 and the Renaissance’ssubsidiary company, Topaz Energy andMarine, with the company’s acquisitionof BUE in 2005. During 2005-2007, Royserved as General Manager of thecompany’s BUE Caspian unit, and in2008 Roy was promoted to ChiefOperating Officer of Topaz Marine.

The Channel - issue 5 - Sept - Oct 2011

Focus on food safety

Other papers and panel discussions highlightedinitiatives and developments in food safety in Australia,Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, and initiatives from variousindustry regulators on advancing food safety standards andspecifications through controls like HACCP.

The conference was held under the patronage of theMinistry of Regional Municipalities, the Ministry ofCommerce and Industry and Muscat Municipality, whilesponsors included Nestle Middle East and the HighfieldAwarding Body for Compliance.

Peter James, QA and HSE Advisor at the ContractServices Group, said, “CSG is a sponsor at the OFSCfor the second year running because we find a greatopportunity in sharing the experiences and challengesthat industry regulators and providers face of the job.There is a distinctive gathering of experts here atOFSC sharing best practices and latest breakthroughsin food safety. We have a programme for safety meet-ings at our PACs and kitchens on a daily basis wherea safety incident from one location is shared and dis-cussed at all other locations. Through this sharedknowledge our people are equipped with meaningfulinsight and reinforcement of our Safety First culture.”

Renaissance Services subsidiary Contract ServicesGroup (CSG) and Tawoos Agriculture were amongsponsors of the two-day Oman Food Safety Conference2011 (OFSC) of which served as an important venue forregulators, food industry corporates, food safety profes-sionals, food distributors, academia, and consumers todiscuss issues and concerns over food safety and quality.

According to World Health Organisation studies, unsafefood causes many acute and life-long diseases, and esti-mates that foodborne and waterborne diseases takentogether kill about 2.2 million people annually, 1.9 million ofthem children.

Robert Maclean (pictured above), Principal ofRenaissance subsidiary National Hospitality Institute,chaired a panel discussion on advancing food safetythrough collaboration, while panelists included industryexperts from several government bodies.


Topaz wins at

Safety and Quality Award – Topaz'scommitment to safety permeates all levels of theorganization and the company always strives foran incident-free workplace through an uncompro-mising approach to safety. A systematic trainingand empowerment program ensures that all staffactively participates in the development ofongoing improvements to an already well-established safety system.

Topaz Marine won two awards out of four nomina-

tions at the annual Seatrade Middle East & Indian

Subcontinent Awards 2011 held in Dubai recently.

Stephen R Thomas, CEO of Renaissance Services,

commented on the awards saying, “The Seatrade

Awards are a benchmark for excellence in our indus-

try. We are very honoured to have won these two

awards amongst other first class finalists. We shall

treat the Safety & Quality Award as a charge of

responsibility to maintain the highest standards of

safety in all that we do.”

Receiving the awards on behalf of the division wasRoy Donaldson, COO of Topaz Marine, who said, “Ourpeople work tirelessly to maintain a spotless safetyrecord, and winning the Safety & Quality and WorkboatAwards demonstrates the unwavering commitment andserious attention we place on safety and efficiencyacross our businesses. This has brought great honourto our company and we could not be more pleased bythe outstanding effort of all those in Topaz Marine toqualify in four major categories.”

Workboats Award – Operating a diverse fleetof 100+ vessels, Topaz Marine offers a widerange of offshore support services includingtowage, rig moves, pipelay support, survey,subsea development, installation maintenanceand repair, production and development supply,cable laying, ice breakers etc. With our modernand dynamically positioned fleet, Topaz Marine iswell-placed to offer a quality, safe and reliableservice to its customers.

Topaz Marine MENA shortlisted in Lloyd’s List 2011 Awards

The Lloyd’s List Awards – Middle East and Indian Subcontinent 2011, which willtake place in November, has shortlisted Topaz Marine MENA in six separatecategories – Maritime Services, Environment, Innovation, Safety, Training andShip Operator of the Year Awards.

Lloyd's List is a leading resource and reference of information specific to themaritime industry that was founded in 1734.

Seatrade Awards 2011


Blue Ocean Strategy – Visual Awakening Workshop

National Training Institute (NTI), a Renaissance

Services subsidiary within the company’s Education

and Training Group, is an acknowledged market leader

in Oman for business and technical fields such as

Leadership & Management Development, Information

Technology, Financial Studies, Technical Studies and

HSE.

NTI is presenting the first workshop in Oman on the

Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS), which is a business strat-

egy formulated in 2005, in association with the Blue

Ocean Strategy Initiative Center (BOSIC) based in the

United Kingdom. The BOS Workshop is the result of

over 20 years of research and effort by Professors W.

Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, who published the

first book on the subject.

Professors Kim and Mauborgne developed a new

set of analytical tools and frameworks to make the

pursuit of ‘blue oceans’, which was the term they gave

to an uncontested market space. Their tools help

managers see beyond market boundaries and the

traditional competitive landscape in a methodical and

codified way to generate high-growth and high-profit.

The Value Curve, Strategy Canvas, Buyer Utility Map

and Six Paths Framework are some of the core tools

offered in the BOS Workshop, which takes place 21–22

November at the Grand Hyatt in Muscat. The workshop

will be led by John Riker, Managing Director of the

BOSIC. Riker has led numerous BOS initiatives and

transformation programmes for clients in the US,

Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with particular

emphasis on telecommunications and media.

To attend the BOS Workshop, please contact

Ms. Poonam Sonakia, Training & Operations Manager

at NTI, at [email protected].

Renaissance Services and Oman Sail have

enjoyed a collaboration that has extended into its

third year in 2011 as part of Renaissance’s Corporate

Social Responsibility Programme. The purpose of the

partnership is to ensure young Omanis are empow-

ered to fulfill their potential and to showcase Oman’s

local sporting talent. To enable young Omani’s to

experience sailing and learn new skills, Renaissance

Services sponsored Oman Sail’s Try Sailing and

Summer Sailing Programmes, which saw hundreds

of Omani’s youth take to the water.

This month, Oman Sail has launched a sailing

programme aimed directly at the female population

of Oman, to encourage young women to participate at

this sport’s professional level. The Women’s Sailing

Programme at Oman Sail envisions to not only train,

coach and qualify a team of Omani women capable

of competing at an Olympic level by the year 2020,

but to nurture the community programme towards

employment and development of women at Oman

Sail schools and centers.

A squad of 20 female sailors was recently selected

Ensuring roads of progress for Oman’s women sailors

to undergo a six-month training which will equip them

with the sailing skills required to qualify as profes-

sional instructors. These ladies are being assessed

for their commitment and competency as they

compete for a handful of openings to compete along-

side some of the world’s most talented female sailors

in a GCC-wide race, Sailing Arabia – The Tour, due to

take place in February 2012. Much of the focus will be

on the first all women crew entry into the competition.

Two schools participated in the Renaissance’s Try Sailing event this year, with150 female students from Al Zahra School and 150 male students from Rashidbin Nadhar School.


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OER-UMS prepares for grand debate for Oman

Oman Debate 2011, the third annual national debate organized by Oman

Economic Review will be anchored by renowned television host Tim Sebastian,

the founder and chairman of ‘The Doha Debates’ and former BBC Hard Talk

presenter.

The annual debate encompassing key themes that form the business

environment of today and tomorrow in Oman will be held on November 2 at

Al Bustan Palace Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Key questions that will be raised by Oman Debate 2011 will be based on

issues like job creation, raising salaries, sops and benefits and Omanisation.

The Oman Debate 2011 will also discuss whether the Sultanate is at the

crossroads of a watershed moment in Oman’s socio-economic history where

everything that was held as sacred needs to be questioned and redefined.

As in the previous two editions, Oman Debate 2011 is highly anticipated for

its interactions between government representatives and leading executives of

Oman’s corporate world. The hot topic of discussion for Oman Debate 2011 is

how to cope up with the developments of the Arab Spring.

With a mission to mark Breast Cancer Aware-

ness Day on October 25, Ms. Sue Fisher, Training

Manager at Contract Services Group, found herself

in Oman’s interior South Nimr Camp, over 600 km

away from where the National Association for

Cancer Awareness awareness walk was taking

place in Muscat.

The male-dominated environment of the

accommodation camps were met with Ms. Fisher

(pictured) who decided to walk around the site in a

pink uniform, instead!, to distribute caps and raise

the issue with curious Omani and non-Omani staff,

contractors and clients, who then pledged to spread

the word to their families and communities.

The positive response has motivated Fisher to plan

for a larger site-walk in the next year.

Congratulations Sue, for your grassroots aware-

ness-spreading of this noteworthy issue.

According to the Breast Cancer Society, breast

cancer is the second most common form of cancer

in the world affecting women and men following

lung cancer.

Health is Wealth: Raising Awareness


Al Mar’a magazine featured breast cancer awareness in its October issue. To read online please click:English: http://www.oeronline.com/almara_emagazine_oct2011.phpArabic: http://www.oeronline.com/almara_emagazine_arabic_oct11.php

the channel issue 5

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