The families and dependents of the 11 oil rig workers killed and the 15 injured on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20th may see the personal injury compensation paid to them reduced severely if Transocean are successful in using a law from the 19th Century.
The law in question is the 1851 Limitation of liability Act which was introduced to encourage investment in shipping and keep the US fleets competitive.
Under the Act, ship owner's liability is limited to the value of the ship plus the money the ship owner would collect if the voyage/trip was completed.
Since the Deepwater Horizon is worth $0 dollars since it is at the bottom of the ocean, if this law is pass, Transocean will only be liable for $26.76 million (the remaining value of their contract with BP.)
The Limitation of Liability Act will only work if Transoceans attorneys can prove that Transocean's managers did not know about conditions that would lead to the accident.
Publicly, the plaintiffs personal injury attorneys feel that they will be able to get a much larger payout than the $26.76 million but some law professors feel that Transocean may be able to pull off the Limitation of Liability.
There have been calls for the Act to be amended as it is felt it is no longer relevant to the modern world and that company's like Transocean should not be able to get away from their mistakes.
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