Asyad Group joins the world in celebrating the 2021 World Day for Safety and Health at Work, held every 28^th of April since 2003 to promote health and safety at the workplace. This year, the International Labour Organization (ILO) celebrates this day under a new theme, “Anticipate, prepare and respond to crises”.

Since its establishment in 2016, Asyad Group maintained an unwavering commitment to occupational health and safety (OHS) across its various functions, holding the protection and wellbeing of its employees as a top priority. This principle translated into developing resilient, agile and responsive OHS systems built with the latest technological solutions to face any challenge, while securing business continuity and safeguarding the supply chain for all sectors.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its emerging challenges, Asyad put in place new dynamic and resilient working systems to ensure the continuity of the logistics sectors and uninterrupted operation of Oman’s ports as they remain open to all shipping routes. In addition, a flexible and highly efficient contingency plan was devised and enacted in 2020 to fight the spread of coronavirus in the workplace, set the necessary prevention measures for handling all vessels, safely carry out maritime pilotage operations without close contact between pilots and crews, notify all shipping agents to submit IMO-approved Covid-19 medical disclosures, and enact container disinfection protocols when unloading containers and before shipping or delivery.

In a further push to minimize the risk of contact and virus transmission, Asyad looked towards the latest technological solutions to digitize all commercial transactions, protecting customers and saving them time and effort. Such digitization, undertaken with Asyad’s strategic partners, is aligned with SOLS 2040 objective to create an enhanced digital logistics community to serve as a pillar in the country’s economy.

In 2020, Oman’s ports showed outstanding performance and boasted exceptional numbers as their business grew by 5%, ranked world’s fastest in container ship handling, and managed to effectively maintain readiness and ensure consistent operations. The Group followed the best international practices on business continuity as outlined in ISO 22301, yet another standard that Asyad will seek to achieve, placing it among the world’s top logistics powerhouses.

After signing the Neptune Declaration to prevent exposing seafarers to extended periods at sea, Asyad’s fleet continued its operations reaching different ports across the globe armed with competent and experienced crews equipped to handle all medical and safety-related emergencies. The fleet was further bolstered by developing readiness, protection and contingency plans and supported by an operations room equipped with the latest technologies and software to handle various regular and critical operations.

Meanwhile in Duqum, the Drydock laid out a solid business continuity plan that observed new IMO regulations and managed to overcome all challenges of Covid-19, successfully servicing 160 international vessels of all sizes and purposes.

An additional highlight for our business continuity and response plans was the uninterrupted ferry service to Musandam. Sinyar continued to provide ferry transport services while observing OHS and quality recommendations and obligations, including passenger temperature checks and passenger area disinfection. In 2020, Sinyar completed over 1175 trips to Musandam ports and transported around 49,000 passengers, 8,000 vehicles, and 8,000 tons of cargo.

The same precautionary measures were also applied to all bus services to ensure a continuous and safe public transport environment in line with Asyad’s customer-centric approach.

As for Oman Post – Asyad Express, plans were developed not only to ensure business continuity, but also to integrate health and precautionary measures in day-to-day functions. These measures taken aimed at safeguarding the wellbeing of staff members and customers alike included disinfecting all branches and customer areas, providing sanitizers across the business network, removing touch-screen tools and equipment, and identifying alternative and efficient customer service tools.