Transocean claims best year for safety in SEC filing

Transocean said it had its 'best year in safety' in its latest filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon oilrig, which exploded last year and caused the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life in the Gulf of Mexico, we achieved an exemplary statistical safety record as measured by our total recordable incident rate ("TRIR") and total potential severity rate ("TPSR")," the filing states.

"As measured by these standards, we recorded the best year in safety performance in our Company's history, which is a reflection on our commitment to achieving an incident free environment, all the time, everywhere."

The filing said that, despite the company's good safety record, the Gulf oil disaster meant that executives would receive lesser bonuses than usual.

The Washington Post first reported on the filing on April 1.

On April 2, the Wall Street Journal reported that Transoccean's rate of incidents per 200,000 employee work hours dropped by 4% from 2009 to 2010.

"A number that measures potential severity of those incidents fell nearly 15% from last year," the report said.