KIELLAND-NETTVERKET

CLAIM FOR STATE COMPENSATION

Equal compensation for all 212 who were aboard the Kielland on March 27, 1980.

It is urgent to provide compensation to the Kielland victims.

The residential rig Alexander L. Kielland sank in the North Sea on March 27, 1980, and is to this day Norway's largest industrial disaster in peacetime. 123 men died, 89 survived, marked for life by the traumatic experiences. Between 300 and 400 children lost their fathers, and young widows lost their husbands and breadwinners. No one was followed up by society at large, even though the need was known, something a joint Storting regretted only in 2021.

Many have had a very difficult time, with trauma, psychiatry, substance abuse and poor finances.

NKVTS concluded in 2024 that the victims of Kielland, even today, have poorer health and quality of life than the rest of the population. They further recommend that the Kielland Network be given the opportunity to arrange gatherings, where they can meet others with the same experiences.

As part of the Documentation Project, a research report from the University of Stavanger, led by Professor Marie Smith-Solbakken, was published on January 11, where lawyer Eva Joly is also part of the research group. Among other things, they have had previously closed archives opened, and have reviewed the archives of some of the key politicians. This reveals new, serious findings, such as that Kielland was never approved as a residential area, that security was poor, that only five of the 212 had taken a safety course, that there was a lack of life jackets and that the lifeboats were impossible to lower. Divers took over 200 photos showing that doors, hatches and manholes were open on the day of the accident, and that wires and cables were even passing through. Two different researchers indicated that water therefore flowed in and was the reason why the platform went completely around in just 18 minutes. If everything had been closed according to regulations, the platform would have remained in a "stable lateral position" of 30 degrees for up to two hours. Lifeboats and helicopters could have arrived, and most people could have been saved. The investigation was flawed and evidence, such as logbooks, the captain's diary, etc., was never found. The composition of the investigation commission was questionable, including Veritas, while no one with experience from platform operations was wanted. The Attorney General, incredibly, dropped the case on better grounds. Both the Attorney General and the Attorney General doubted that doors, etc. were open on the day of the accident.

The lawyers looking at the report list a number of human rights violations and 123 negligent homicides are being assessed. Kielland was described as a dangerous workplace. Veritas admitted that safety was irresponsible, in a memo that was to be discussed at a government conference just days after the disaster. The Minister of Oil had removed the memo, while researchers found it in another minister's archive.

Nothing had to stop the Norwegian oil adventure. It was just to continue oil exploration further north!

Survivors and widows in great shock and grief were pressured to sign “crumbs/blood money” from Phillips and LO, as many have expressed it.

We are experiencing that many of the survivors have passed away in recent years, as have many widows. Those who gave their lives, their family lives and their health for the Norwegian oil adventure deserve compensation, and it is urgent! As a well-known NRK journalist recently expressed: “Kielland is still a national trauma”.

Now the other oil worker groups, i.e. the North Sea Divers and the Oil Pioneers, have received their rightful compensation, only Kielland remains.

No other accident or disaster is as serious and at the same time as documented and scrutinized through research, literature and media coverage as Kielland. No further investigation is needed in the government, the case with Kielland is as simple as this:

Give the same compensation to the 212 who were on Kielland now!

No individual testing is necessary.

It is known (from the Storting's question time on 29 January 2025) that the money exists. So use the funds that were once earmarked to compensate for accidents on the shelf, the so-called Petroleum Insurance Fund, which has now been incorporated into the oil fund. The victims after Kielland should have received compensation long ago! And it is obvious that this must be used for justice for the Kielland victims.