Deepwater_Horizon_explosion

It’s nice to know that business is booming at Transocean. Barely a month after the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers, the company announced at a meeting that it would pay its shareholders a total dividend of $1 billion this year. Last week, the company held a closed-door meeting at its office in Switzerland where the decision to make the dividend payout was made.

It’s heartwarming to see that Transocean, the same company that rushed to limit its liability in the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, seemed not to hesitate at all when it came to the decision to distribute its profits. The company has continued to insist that it is not to blame for the explosion, or any of the cleanup costs resulting from it, pointing fingers at BP. The oil giant, not to be outdone, continues to blame Transocean, or rather, Transocean oil workers on the rig, for the explosion.

A total of 11 workers are confirmed dead in the explosion. 17 workers were seriously injured, and even the remaining workers who were evacuated from the rig on lifeboats, have been left severely traumatized. The fallout from the oil spill continues. Fishing communities, tourism-related businesses and other industries along the coastlines of Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states are expected to suffer devastating losses to their livelihood as a result of the oil spill. The loss to the community livelihoods is expected to continue for several years into the future, as the oil spill damages the sensitive marine ecological environment along these coastlines.

But who cares? Transocean shareholders are laughing all the way to the bank.