Transocean offers condolences to staff members' families

Transocean has offered its condolences to the families of people who are presumed dead following a fire and subsequent explosion at one of the company's semisubmersible operations.

The company said nine of its employees plus two contractors are still missing from when the incident occurred on Tuesday, April 20th.

Located in the US Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon rig sank two days later on Thursday, leading to a range of oil spill measures being launched by the organisation and its partners.

President and chief executive officer at Transocean Steven Newman remarked: "As the nation and everyone in the Transocean family mourns the tragic loss of these people, our deepest sympathies are with their families and friends today."

BP group chief executive Tony Hayward shared similar sentiments regarding the incident, which he described as "tragic", adding that the industry owes a lot to individuals putting in shifts at offshore rigs across the globe.