Gulf Disaster

BP Gulf Rig Was Registered to Marshall Islands

Was considered a "ship" by law.

Does this mean we can call for a mutiny? The Deepwater Horizon oil rig was considered a “ship” by international law and was registered in the Marshall Islands—meaning the tiny Pacific nation was primarily responsible for regulating it, not the United States government. The Marshall Islands, in turn, outsourced much of that responsibility to private companies. (The U.S. Interior Department's Minerals Management Service only dealt with “below the waterline” issues.) Meanwhile, President Obama is set on Tuesday to address the nation from the Oval Office. He will describe the oil spill as “as a slow-motion crisis, resistant to the best efforts and billions of dollars from government and industry,” says The New York Times. “Sound like the economy?”