Transoceans' attempt to limit it's liability in the Gulf Oil Disaster

Should we be surprised that the rush to limit financial liability is in "red alert" mode while the oil is still spewing from the breach?

This filing though has got to be a joke..

Transocean Petitions to Limit Liability in Gulf Rig Blast

Transocean Ltd., the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that burned and sank last month unleashing a massive oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico, Thursday filed in federal court a petition to limit its liability to just under $27 million.

What's their legal angle on this one?

Under the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, a vessel owner is liable only for the post-accident value of the vessel and cargo, so long as the owner can show he or she had no knowledge of negligence in the accident, maritime lawyers say. The law was created in the days before modern insurance and communications technology, to help U.S. shipping businesses compete against foreign ship owners who were protected against claims. Drilling rigs count as vessels under U.S. maritime law, and since "the remains of the...Deepwater Horizon now lay sunken" about a mile deep in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the value of the rig and its cargo comes to no more than $26,764,083, Transocean claims in the filing. Before the accident, the rig was worth around $650 million.

This one can't fly can it?

Related:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Looks like this could be a cash cow for these cretins, at the expense of one of our nations once pristine ecosystems. Pathetic.

[edit on 13-5-2010 by kinda kurious]

reply to post by kinda kurious


Interesting to see in the linked thread you provided that Transocean had quite the windfall that would...

will more than cover the $200m that Transocean expects to pay to survivors and their families and for higher insurance costs.

Now they pull this shady stunt ?