Rig owner Transocean admits ‘insensitive’ comment on safety

A top official with Transocean Ltd. — owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded last year in a fatal accident — is expressing remorse over its claim that 2010 was the “best year in safety performance in our company’s history.”

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Monday bashed the claim — which was made in an April 1 regulatory filing — and bonuses paid to executives.

Ihab Toma, Transocean’s executive vice-president for global business, said in a statement Monday that the company regretted its phrasing.

“We acknowledge that some of the wording in our 2010 proxy statement may have been insensitive in light of the incident that claimed the lives of eleven exceptional men last year and we deeply regret any pain that it may have caused,” Toma said.

“Nothing in the proxy was intended to minimize this tragedy or diminish the impact it has had on those who lost loved ones. Everyone at Transocean continues to mourn the loss of these friends and colleagues,” the statement adds.

Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon rig was under contract to BP to drill the oil giant’s ill-fated Macondo well. 

The April 2010 well blowout and rig explosion killed 11 workers, and touched off the months-long oil spill the dumped several million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.