Coast Guard report: Transocean safety flaws contributed to explosion
Study does not fault BP as much as previous reports.
Unlike other reports investigating the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf, the initial findings of a Coast Guard report released Friday hardly mention BP.
Instead, the report, a result of a joint accident investigation with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, puts rig owner - Transocean at the center of its findings.
The investigation concludes that safety management system flaws and a poor safety culture contributed to last year's explosion that killed 11 men working on the platform and sent nearly 200 million gallons of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, the Associated Press reports.
As a result of the "deficiencies" of Transocean's crew, they were unable to stop the disaster from escalating once it began, the report says.
In addition to its examination of the rig owner, the Coast Guard also looked into the role of the Republic of Marshall Islands in the disaster, asserting that a lack of serious oversight on the part of the island nation under which the rig flew its flag, contributed to the explosion as well.
BOEMRE is expected to issue its report examining the explosion and the two agencies will release a joint final report this year.