Transocean

"Transocean Ltd., the world’s largest offshore oil driller, said it may have violated U.S. sanctions when goods bound for a company-owned rig in Turkmenistan traveled through Iran.

The New York Times reports that Transocean's SEC filings indicate that the company ships equipment through Iran, and additionally has ties to other sanctionable countries including Syria and Myanmar.  (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/business/global/08ocean.html?_r=1)

'Failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations relating to sanctions and export restrictions may subject us to criminal sanctions and civil remedies, including fines, denial of export privileges, injunctions or seizures of our assets,” Transocean said intoday’s filing.'

Transocean is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor. It employs a workforce of 20,000 and specializes in deepwater drilling. Transocean is contracted by the world's largest energy companies, and managed BP's Deepwater Horizon platform at the time of the Gulf oil spill disaster (Company Website).  (http://www.deepwater.com/fw/main/Global-Operations-8.html)

The equipment was shipped through Iran by a freight forwarder, Vernier, Switzerland-based Transocean said today in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The potential violation was detected by the company’s internal compliance program and was reported to the U.S. Treasury Department.

It’s against U.S. law to export U.S.-origin items to Iran, Transocean said in the regulatory filing."(Bloomberg, "Transocean Says It Shipped Goods Through Iran," 11/3/2010) (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-03/transocean-says-it-shipped-goods-through-iran-update1-.html)