Transocean is the world’s second largest offshore drilling contractor, based in Vernier, Switzerland. The company operates in twenty countries having offices in Canada, United States of America, Norway, Scotland, India, Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia. It hires a total of nine thousand one hundred employees and reports revenue of $7.386 billion.
- On March 2 2002, an Scottish man was killed in an accident aboard the Transocean Leader drilling rig, that was being operated for BP.
- In Galveston Bay, Texas one worker was killed and four others were hospitalized, plus twenty one more had to be evacuated after an explosion on a Transocean gas drilling rig. This happened in 2003.
- In 2007, the Bourbon Dolphin supply boat sank of the coast of Scotland while on service of the Transocean Rather drilling rig, eight people died. The Norwegian government established an Investigation Commission to inquire in the causes of the incident, the report cited a series of unfortunate events and circumstances tied to Bourbon Offshore and Transocean lead to the accident.
- In April 2010, a fire was reported on the Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible drilling rig, owned by Transocean. The Deepwater Horizon was acquired by Transocean back in 2001 when the company bought Reading & Falcon, the firm that designed it. The fire broke out at 10:00P.M. in US waters of Mississipi Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig was located forty one miles off the coast of Louisiana. The US Coast Guard launched a rescue mission after an explosion that killed eleven workers and critically injured seven of the one hundred and twenty six member crew. Deepwater Horizon was completely destroyed and later sank, as it sank the riser pipe that connected the well-head to the rig was severed. As a result, oil began to spill into the Gulf of Mexico. The rough estimate of the spill was of 80.000 barrels per day, for eighty seven days. An state of emergency was declared in April 29, after the slick caused by the oil spill started to grow and and head inland toward the most important and most sensitive wetlands in North America, becoming a threat to wildlife, environment and the livelihood of thousands of fishermen. The head of BP told CNN, in its moment, that the accident could have been prevented and focused the blame on Transocean, owners of the rig and which manned it in part. Transocean, later, came under fire from lawyers representing the fishing and tourism businesses affected by the spill, as well as the United States Department of Justice for trying to use a Limitation of Liability Act of 1851 to restrict its liability for economic damages to $26,7 million.
Asbestos and the Oil Industry.
Workers and ex-workers from older oil rigs are especially at risk of exposure to Asbestos, that has been linked to a number of health complications, including Mesothelioma a deadly and aggressive kind of cancer, most commonly found in the pleura, the layer of tissue surrounding the lungs. Asbestos became very popular during the twentieth century due to its low cost, durability and heat and fire resistance, making the oil industry one of the industries with the highest asbestos exposure numbers.
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Oil Rig Accident Lawyers
Oil rig accident attorneys represent workers and former workers who have been involved in accidents at their work locations. These accidents can leave those involved in them exposed to long term consequences such as injuries, chronic pain, mounting medical bills and disabilities. Some of these accidents can be fatal. Contacting an specialized lawyer in your area to get a case evaluation is the first step towards the getting much needed compensation.
