KIELLAND-NETTVERKET

Welcome to the support group Kielland-Network!

We are the board, representing the survivors and the bereaved after the Alexander L. Kielland disaster on March 27th, 1980. It remains Norway’s largest industrial disaster in peacetime, where 123 oil workers were killed and 89 barely survived, scarred for life. Between 300 and 400 children lost their father that day.

The Kielland disaster remains, to this day, our great national trauma.

After nearly 46 years, we have finally secured a parliamentary decision for state compensation to the victims — that is, the survivors and the bereaved.

We are now in a critical phase of our work to determine the amount and timing of the compensation payments. This requires intensive efforts with members of Parliament, and therefore frequent meetings in Oslo.

The board of the Kielland-Network support group, from left:

Gudny Hansen, Anders Helliksen (chairman),

Åse Kringlebotn, Roy Erling Furre, Jorunn Birkeland

and Merete Haslund. Photo: Private.

Without a single krone in state operating support, we are entirely dependent on contributions from our members and others who wish to help us — whether private individuals, trade unions, companies, or municipalities.

Here’s how you can support us; thank you so much in advance:

Vipps to 595202 or transfer to bank account: 3201 19 79679

(enter your name and email address as the payment reference)

Detailed bankinformation here.

We are happy to acknowledge support beyond membership here on our website, if desired.

Alexander Kielland disaster March 27 1980

On March 27, 1980, the oil platform “Alexander L. Kielland” capsized. This was the largest industrial accident in Norwegian history, 123 people died, of whom 30 were never found and 89 survived with physical and/or mental injuries. Several hundred children lost their father.

Facts about the Alexander L. Kielland accident:

123 died 89 survived.

Alexander L. The Kielland platform sank at a depth of 700 meters in the Nedstrandsfjorden on November 18, 1983.

The Kielland disaster occurred on March 27, 1980, on the Ekofisk field in the North Sea. One of the rig's five legs fell off, and after only 20 minutes the platform was upside down in rough seas. 123 people lost their lives and 89 survivors were marked for life. 30 of the dead were never found.

The cause of the accident, according to the investigation commission, was a fatigue fracture in a support strut in the platform's load-bearing structure. This caused one of the five pillars (platform legs) with a pontoon (floating element) that supported the platform to break off. After about 20 minutes, the platform capsized.

After several attempts to turn the rig, it was turned over in September 1983, and six of the then 36 missing people were found aboard the rig after it was stabilized on September 12.

The composition and work of the Commission of Inquiry have subsequently been heavily criticized. Several, including the Office of the Auditor General, believe it is reprehensible that the authorities involved Det Norske Veritas in both the investigation work and the operation to turn the rig around, as they were a party to the case – and because their independence could thus be questioned.

In addition, criticism has been raised from various circles against the commission's lack of analysis of how various factors and conditions interacted during the course of events. Among other things, this criticism concerns the lack of assessment of stability after water ingress through open doors and hatches that should have been closed, and the significance this had in causing the rig to capsize after only 20 minutes.

CLAIM FOR STATE COMPENSATION

ABOUT US

Bylaws

THE KIELLAND-NETWORK!

The Kielland Network is the support group for survivors and bereaved of the Kielland disaster in 1980, working for the best possible health and quality of life for the Kielland victims. We also seek government compensation and answers to unknown circumstances surrounding the incident and responsibility.

THE BOARD

* Anders Helliksen, chairman and suvivor
* Merete Haslund, deputy chairman - lost her father
* Gudny Hansen, lost her father at Kielland
* Jorunn Birkeland, trade union NITO
* Roy Erling Furre, trade union SAFE
* Åse Kringlebotn, responsible for member relation

NEWS

TO PRIME MINISTER JONAS GAHR STØRE

My name is Anders Helliksen. I survived the Alexander L. Kielland disaster on March 27TH, 1980, and I am currently the chair of the Kielland Network. I took over the position after Kian Reme, who passed away in the summer of 2024.

I am now requesting a meeting with you as soon as possible

On June 5th last year, the Storting adopted a resolution stating that the Kielland victims should receive state compensation, and after the Speech from the Throne debate, a new resolution was passed requiring the Government to present a proposal for a compensation scheme by March this year. The Ministry of Energy is handling the matter, and I have had two meetings with Minister Aasland during 2025.

Since we first contacted you about a compensation scheme, three and a half years have passed. Throughout this entire period, two members of our board have attended countless meetings in the Storting, and we succeeded in securing support from all parties for the proposal after the Speech from the Throne debate in October — all except the Labour Party.

It is difficult to comprehend why the Labour Party leadership does not want to bring this matter to a conclusion, so that together we can achieve justice and reconciliation after 46 years.

We now request a meeting to explain more about what really happened and what we expect, on behalf of all survivors and the bereaved families of the 212 young men who were on Kielland when it capsized.

A total of 123 lost their lives, and between 300 and 400 children lost their father. We, the 89 who barely survived, were all marked for life. None of us received help to process the trauma – not the survivors, not the children, not the widows, and not the parents. The Government refused, even though a number of professionals stood ready the day after the disaster to travel out and provide crisis support to those affected. Many families were completely devastated in the aftermath.

Now they are passing away; we receive notices of deaths almost every week. After 46 painful years, many did not live long enough to experience fair compensation—something that could finally have given them the financial means to seek help. So this is urgent for everyone who is still alive and waiting.

In 2024, the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS) concluded in its report that the Kielland victims still today have poorer health and quality of life than the rest of the population.

The Kielland catastrophe happened on the Labour Party’s watch. One of the most devastating things for our members to learn is that Kielland was never approved as living quarters. Had I known that myself, I would never have gone out there. Veritas, working on behalf of the Norwegian Maritime Authority, never ensured that the necessary approval was obtained.

And in a 2023 meeting with the National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos) and the Gades Institute regarding the identification of the deceased (together with Kian Reme), we were given the death report from Kripos. It states “assumed correctly identified” for all, and that all had “cause of death: drowning.” Even those whom I and other survivors saw die on deck. None were autopsied. And the report contains incorrect dates for when the deceased returned home in coffins. This has led many of our members to doubt whether they have the correct father in the grave. Dear Prime Minister, if only you knew how much grief and additional burden this negligence has inflicted on our members.

The examples I have mentioned here are only two of a long series of failures by the state — before, during, and after the catastrophe. We call Kielland a catastrophe, not an accident. Because it could have been avoided. Experts who have studied Kielland even describe it as a “forewarned catastrophe.”

Prominent jurists, such as Eva Joly, have described our case as 123 counts of negligent homicide. Because the state could have ensured that it never happened.

I must also emphasize that the Kielland case in the Storting is something entirely different from the case involving the Oil Pioneers, which is also ongoing. Kielland was a structural failure and capsizing, while the Oil Pioneers’ case concerns occupational injury. Although we of course support the Oil Pioneers in their fight.

If you have heard anyone claim that the Kielland victims have already received compensation, this is not true. Not a single krone from the state. There were some “blood money” payments from Phillips shortly afterward, where individuals were pressured to sign an agreement never to take legal action against Phillips or its subcontractors. Those of us who survived received a mere 25,000 NOK. The widows had lost their provider and felt pressured to accept; they needed to survive. Private life insurance payouts and similar were, of course, paid to the widows.

I expect, as I am sure you understand, to be granted a meeting before your government presents a proposal concerning our fate — on behalf of all of us who are victims of Norway’s largest peacetime catastrophe. We simply cannot understand why the Labour Party is now the only party that does not support giving us fair redress, when it was precisely the Labour Party that held responsibility at the time. All your minister, the Minister of Energy, could answer when we asked that question was: “NO COMMENT.”

I look forward to hearing from you, dear Prime Minister!

Kind regards,

Anders Helliksen

Chair of the Kielland Network / Survivor

28th of January 2026

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