(Bloomberg) –Nineteen former North Sea divers lost a lawsuit in Oslo District Court seeking compensation from the Norwegian government on claims of physical and psychological injuries while working on extracting oil on the Norwegian continental shelf.

The government didn't have legal responsibility for the divers' injuries because it didn't employ them directly, the Oslo court said in a ruling posted today on its website. There has been no decision on an appeal yet, the divers' lawyer said. The diverssay they were crippled by living for weeks at a time at depths of up to 984 feet.