Dear All,

Each and every one of us was speechless and tearful in the face of the Bourbon Dolphin tragedy.

This accident has claimed lives among our fellow crew members and family. Our first actions, thoughts and prayers are for them, their families, friends and relatives. I have been witness to the extraordinary heart felt commitment of our team in Norway to support everyone with appropriate information, action and kindness.

The emergency response of our Norwegian colleagues was carried out in a professional way, adding high quality human behavior to long established crisis handling plans.

I felt the strong support of the Fosnavåg area communities, the civil and religious representatives and the Government in Norway extended to us in these circumstances. We are very grateful for the efficient handling of rescue operations by the Shetland Coastguard and all those involved.

BOURBON has received hundreds of messages from all over the world, showing compassion and offering help, assistance and prayers. Thank you to all and every one of you. You share the burden of our sorrow and give us strength to carry on at sea the service we render to society as a whole.

On behalf of us all at BOURBON, I wish strength and faith to all who are suffering today, and my personal thanks to those in Norway, in France and throughout the world who have once again given life to the ethical values we are striving for everyday.

Today, at the closing of the rescue operations and with crew members due to come home shortly, we are focusing on caring for our people and their families. Hopefully soon, we will also know what occurred that made Bourbon Dolphin capsize. It will however take a long and professional investigation to understand why this unbelievable and inconceivable accident has happened.

It will be our duty to the memory of our lost crew members, to the world offshore industry, as well as a testimony to our endless commitment to safety, to make sure everything is done to prevent such a tragedy happening again.

I want to share with you the emotion of all of us at BOURBON. Let us, however, also share the pride of building together a sea of trust.

I would like to ensure all the BOURBON crewmen worldwide and their relatives to my entire support for their daily commitment in operations.

What we are doing every day with professionalism and enthusiasm has value to people we live with and helps to build a better world for everyone. In these hard conditions, where solidarity is experienced every second, respectful for nature at sea, all of you at BOURBON deserve my highest consideration.

Jacques de Chateauvieux
CEO of BOURBON