OCCIDENTAL, the oil operator which owned the ill-fated Piper Alpha
platform, is suing 26 contractor companies and at least one survivor of
the disaster.
The company has paid out millions of pounds in compensation following
the deaths of 167 men in the disaster.
Papers have been lodged at the Court of Session in Edinburgh for at
least one case -- against Stena Offshore and, according to early
reports, the survivor.
He is understood to be Mr John Ottiwell Wood, described in the court
papers as an injured person. Mr Wood, who lives in England, was employed
as a diver aboard the platform.
In this case, Occidental is suing for #380,000.
An official at Occidental's headquarters in Los Angeles said the
company had no comment.
Legal sources said yesterday that Occidental is seeking more than
#100m. The first case is likely to be heard in the spring.
A spokeswoman for Elf Enterprise, the company which took over
Occidental's UK operation after the Piper Alpha disaster, said it could
not comment on the action.
She said: ''Because of the sale agreements, we cannot comment.''
Occidental is claiming that the contractors are responsible for
compensation payouts to the bereaved and survivors.
In turn, the contractors -- among them the Wood Group, which lost 39
men, and British Telecom, which lost three -- will claim that Occidental
was solely liable.
At Stena Offshore, the news was received with some surprise last
night. Mr Steve Davy, commercial director with the company which had
divers aboard the ill-fated rig, said: ''I can only assume they are
under an obligation to their insurers to attempt to seek recovery of the
funds they lost.''
Mr David Burnside, spokesman for the Piper disaster group, the legal
team which succeeded in obtaining more than #100,000 compensation for
each of the survivors and families of the bereaved, said that its
clients should not be affected and said he doubted reports that
Occidental would attempt to sue a survivor of the disaster.
He said: ''This is a recoupment exercise by Occidental. Anyone who has
had a damages claim settled does not have to worry. Relatives and
survivors should not worry that their compensation might be taken
away.''
Mr Burnside added: ''If a survivor has been blamed he has protection
of his employer's vicarious liability -- that is to say that his
employer's insurance cover will protect him.''
Survivors of the disaster will be called to give evidence. Their
spokesman, Bob Ballantyne, said they were aghast at the prospect of
reliving the horror. They had already done so over the many months of
Lord Cullen's inquiry.
Mr Ballantyne said: ''We are told we cannot sue Occidental because
they no longer exist in the UK but Occidental could make a profit out of
the disaster if they succeed in suing the contractors.''
There have been repeated calls from survivors that criminal
proceedings should be brought against the company and its management but
these have been rejected.
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