Oil Rig Workers File Suit

Three workers forced to escape on lifeboats after an explosion aboard an offshore drilling platform claimed in a lawsuit they were kept floating at sea for more than 10 hours while the rig burned uncontrollably.

“After these guys were pulled off the rig, they were kept in lifeboats for over 10 hours and saw the whole thing burn. They knew their friends were still on that rig burning,” said Kurt Arnold, the Houston-based attorney who filed the lawsuit on the men’s behalf. “They couldn’t call anyone at home and say they were OK.”

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages on behalf of workers Joshua Kritzer, Bill Johnson and Nick Watson, all from Louisiana; and the family of Aaron Burkeen of Mississippi, one of 11 workers presumed dead following the April 20 explosion. Burkeen left a wife and two children.

The lawsuit accuses BP, Transocean and the other companies of negligence and contends that the Deepwater Horizon was not seaworthy.

“Oil rig workers face some of the most dangerous working conditions in the world,” Arnold said. “That’s why companies like Transocean and BP have rules they must follow to protect every worker.” Guy Cantwell, a spokesman for rig owner Transocean Ltd., defended the company’s response to a disaster off the Louisiana coast. “One-hundred and fifteen people got off this rig alive,” he said.

At least two other wrongful death or personal injury lawsuits have been filed against Transocean, rig operator BP and other companies. Nearly 50 potential class-action lawsuits have been filed by fishermen, property owners, restaurateurs, resort companies and others.