Transocean: So Sorry for Calling 2010 'Best Year' Ever

How to win a King-of-No-Tact award, in three easy steps! Step one: Dish out meaty bonuses to your company's top execs. Step two: Base said bonuses, in part, on the fact that 2010 was your "best year" ever in terms of safety—the pesky Gulf oil spill and 11 dead workers aside! Step three: Apologize ... by saying your "best year" comment "may have been insensitive." In a statement to CNN, Transocean gave a sort of foot-in-mouth apology, saying, "We acknowledge that some of the wording in our 2010 proxy statement may have been insensitive ... and we deeply regret any pain that it may have caused."

"Nothing in the proxy was intended to minimize this tragedy or diminish the impact it has had on those who lost loved ones. Everyone at Transocean continues to mourn the loss of these friends and colleagues." Click to read about how big those bonuses were. (More Transocean safety bonuses stories.)