Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. wants to cut the pay of one of its rig crews by more than 20%, despite reaping benefits from the government stimulus program and making plans to pay about $10 million in bonuses to senior managers, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a letter filed on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, the crew of Diamond Offshore’s ultra-deep-water Ocean BlackRhino drilling ship said the bankrupt company wants to cut their pay by at least 20 percent. That pay cut is unwarranted, according to the letter, particularly because the Houston-based contract driller, which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in April, is benefiting from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The letter says that it is written by a longtime Diamond Offshore employee currently stationed on the BlackRhino. The vessel, which can house 210 people, is in the Gulf of Mexico, according to vessel-tracking website MarineTraffic.com. It most recently worked with energy company Hess Corp.
