Published: Thursday, 4th December, 2008 15:20
Diver's widow loses compensation battle
By Gary Fitzpatrick
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A WEST FIFE widow whose husband was killed in a horrific North Sea oil rig accident 25 years ago has failed in a bid to win compensation from the Norwegian government.
The decision is the latest body blow to Ruth Crammond, who for many years wrongly believed her husband Bill, a diver, was responsible for the Byford Dolphin explosion in Norwegian waters in 1983.
Mrs Crammond, from Dalgety Bay, and six other British families had hoped the Norwegian government were finally going to conclude the matter by making payments.
However, their applications were turned down because of a legal technicality – the divers were not full members of the Norway national insurance health scheme.
The rejection comes just weeks after the 25th anniversary of the accident in which five men died and one was badly injured.
Mrs Crammond, of Barns Park, said, “It looked like they were finally going to make compensation payments and a Norwegian journalist had phoned to say he was coming over to do interviews because he thought it would be good news.
“We were given a person on this committee to phone and were simply told our application had been declined.
“The men were members of this scheme but were not full members so that is the red tape they are hiding behind. How ridiculous is that?
“I’m very angry about it and am not going to accept it.
"It’s frustrating when all this is happening in Norway and there’s the language barrier and it can be difficult to find out what’s going on.
“These men – our husbands, fathers, brothers – did this job and gave their lives in helping Norway to become a rich country and this is the way the families are treated.
“It’s as if they’re saying, ‘Who cares? They’re British’.”
It was only through investigations by the North Sea Divers Alliance (NSDA) that it emerged that the real cause of the tragedy was faulty equipment, not a mistake by Mr Crammond.
However, it was years before the group was able to trace Mrs Crammond and pass on the information.
Mrs Crammond said, “That was because I could not settle anywhere for years. It was always on my mind that my husband was responsible.
“All those years I was shutting it out of my mind and not thinking about it.
“Now it’s on my mind all the time. I can’t stop thinking about it and just last night I had a dreadful nightmare. My daughter is also ill with stress over all this.
“This is not about the money but the Norwegian government should pay compensation as recognition of what happened.
“It was the government who gave dispensation to the company not to replace the piece of equipment which led to the accident.”
Speaking from Norway, NSDA spokesman Tom Wingen said, “It’s disgusting. The Norway government have taken vast sums from the North Sea industry but the way they treat those who worked in it is to cast them away like an old shoe.
“The ordeal that Ruth Crammond has gone through over the years I can’t imagine.
“Now they say that because they are not part of the Norway health system they don’t have a claim.
“We’re told that there’s not an appeal system as such but the families can make another application.”
The lack of compensation paid to the families of ‘the forgotten divers’ who died in the North Sea between 1967 and 1987 has been highlighted in the Norwegian press in recent years.
The Norwegian government has admitted political and moral responsibility for the divers but has denied legal responsibility.
Despite this, payments have been made to the families of Norwegian victims.
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