Sailing and Cycling; Blue City abandoned by insurer
Oman Sail Masirah won the Extreme 40 Asia Cup held off the Muscat coast in the first week of February. Response from the Omani media seemed muted, as far as I could tell from sitting at my desk in snowy Leicestershire. But then there was a very low key response all round. Even my post announcing the event in January has come third in the Google results.
Perhaps it's not surprising, since sailing is a more exclusive form of sport. You need to be near the sea and able to afford a boat for one thing.
The Extreme Sailing Series website seems to be the best source of news. You'll see the results table and video there.
On the other hand, the Tour of Oman, a new international cycling event following close after the Tour of Qatar, kicked off in Matrah this week. Photos from Kishorcariappa's blog show a strong field of contenders and suggests that many spectators came out to watch. The first stage began from the Corniche in Matrah in the dark, accompanied by fireworks.
In fact, there were complaints from competitors that it was actually too dark to race and that spectators were not always aware of the speed of travel of the cyclists. Luckily, there were no reports of accidents.
See marvellous photographic coverage at the Cycling Weekly website, and current reports on the racing. Those links may not work in the weeks and months to come as the news is archived.
It's good to see major sporting events coming to Oman, which ought to attract foreign tourists, even though a small minority of the tweets I've seen have been less than enthusiastic about the influx of visitors.
Meanwhile, the sorry saga of Blue City limps on. An article in Abu Dhabi's The National on 18th February has revealed that Axis Capital, an insurance and reinsurance company, is cutting its losses and pulling out.
Axis had been insuring $399m of senior notes which Moody's downgraded last year.
Blue City, or Al Madina al Zarqa, has been a focus of the downturn in the Oman property market.
The article also quoted Suketu Sanghvi, the senior managing director of structuring and investments at Essdar Capital in Dubai, confirming that his company had bought top class bonds in the project at considerable discount last summer.
He blamed the litigation between the two original partners of the project for the loss of confidence
He continues to be hopeful, and expects more positive news in two months after a period of 're-structuring.'
It's a pity that the management don't pursue a policy of transparency, despite possible legal requirements for remaining silent on some aspects of the affair. Transparency is a sign of honesty and trustworthiness. There's no encouragement to invest in a deal when you can't find anything out about it.
Added 24th February 2010: The National has published Blue City takes a hit from Moody's. The $399 million bond tranche has been downgraded to "high credit risk" status.
The CEO of BCC1, Richard Russell, remains unavailable for comment.
Apparently the insurers, Axis Capital, are still in the game, but have increased their loss provisions for the project.
Perhaps it's not surprising, since sailing is a more exclusive form of sport. You need to be near the sea and able to afford a boat for one thing.
The Extreme Sailing Series website seems to be the best source of news. You'll see the results table and video there.
On the other hand, the Tour of Oman, a new international cycling event following close after the Tour of Qatar, kicked off in Matrah this week. Photos from Kishorcariappa's blog show a strong field of contenders and suggests that many spectators came out to watch. The first stage began from the Corniche in Matrah in the dark, accompanied by fireworks.
In fact, there were complaints from competitors that it was actually too dark to race and that spectators were not always aware of the speed of travel of the cyclists. Luckily, there were no reports of accidents.
See marvellous photographic coverage at the Cycling Weekly website, and current reports on the racing. Those links may not work in the weeks and months to come as the news is archived.
It's good to see major sporting events coming to Oman, which ought to attract foreign tourists, even though a small minority of the tweets I've seen have been less than enthusiastic about the influx of visitors.
Meanwhile, the sorry saga of Blue City limps on. An article in Abu Dhabi's The National on 18th February has revealed that Axis Capital, an insurance and reinsurance company, is cutting its losses and pulling out.
Axis had been insuring $399m of senior notes which Moody's downgraded last year.
Blue City, or Al Madina al Zarqa, has been a focus of the downturn in the Oman property market.
The article also quoted Suketu Sanghvi, the senior managing director of structuring and investments at Essdar Capital in Dubai, confirming that his company had bought top class bonds in the project at considerable discount last summer.
He blamed the litigation between the two original partners of the project for the loss of confidence
He continues to be hopeful, and expects more positive news in two months after a period of 're-structuring.'
It's a pity that the management don't pursue a policy of transparency, despite possible legal requirements for remaining silent on some aspects of the affair. Transparency is a sign of honesty and trustworthiness. There's no encouragement to invest in a deal when you can't find anything out about it.
Added 24th February 2010: The National has published Blue City takes a hit from Moody's. The $399 million bond tranche has been downgraded to "high credit risk" status.
The CEO of BCC1, Richard Russell, remains unavailable for comment.
Apparently the insurers, Axis Capital, are still in the game, but have increased their loss provisions for the project.
