KIELLAND-NETTVERKET

An important part of the documentation project has been to collect and preserve images related to the Alexander L. Kielland accident. Some of these images have now been published in the book Riggen Alexander L. Kielland Minnebok.

The memorial book is primarily a picture book that provides an insight into everyday life on the rig before the accident. It also contains information about everyone who was on the rig the day of the accident, and how the survivors were rescued. This may not be a book you read from cover to cover as there is some repetition, but the point is that everyone who was on the rig should be mentioned.

Many bereaved and survivors from theKiellanddisaster in 1980 are still asking questions. Many questions. These were collected and presented to the Office of the National Auditor in 2019. But they were never answered.

This book investigates the questions and tries to answer them – as far as it is possible. The primary obstacle is the lack of access to private company archives. Veritas,ConocoPhillipsand several other companies refuse access, even though they had central roles before and after the accident in 1980.

Some of the answers and comments lead us to new questions. This is how it should be. All those affected, as well as Norway as a producer of oil and gas, deserve answers and transparency.

The North Sea, 27th March 1980. An oil rig collapses and turns upside-down in 18 minutes. Of the 212 persons on board that evening, 89 survived. 31 of the crew came from the UK; only 7 of them survived. It remains the largest industrial accident in Norway's history.

The disaster tore through the local and national communities, and its ripple-effects are still felt today, forty years later. No one has been held responsible for the accident, and there is still debate about its causes. Over 300 persons have contributed their voices to this telling of the Alexander L. Kielland accident - from the capsizing, the following search and rescue operation, salvage operations and investigations, and through the repercussions felt long afterward. This is their story. A story of survival, grief, and the search for answers.

The Kiellander Disaster is a Norwegian documentary series about the Alexander L. Kielland accident that aired on TV 2 in 2022.

The documentary attempts to delve into the details of how the accident could have happened and includes archival footage and interviews with survivors made over 40 years after the accident. The series consists of six episodes.