The day the nation fell to its knees

The Kielland disaster occurred on March 27, in high seas and treacherous fog. Norway became a silent witness to unfathomable scenes. Grief, disbelief, and despair gripped the nation.

Thousands of people were directly and indirectly affected by the tragedy. The accident was and still is a national trauma, a major incident that has affected Norway and the oil industry for 45 years.

20 minutes

Kielland was originally built as a drilling rig but was later converted into living quarters, or a flotel. When the accident happened, the platform was under contract to  Phillips Petroleum. It had been used at several locations in the Ekofisk area and was at the Edda 2/7 C platform on that fatal day.

At 18:20 on Thursday, March 27, 1980, powerful bangs were heard on the Edda platform. One of Kielland’s five legs had been ripped off. The platform instantly became heavily lopsided, before capsizing just 20 minutes later and ultimately floating upside down in the raging sea.

Onboard Kielland, many were trapped in common rooms and cabins when the platform capsized. Others were killed by loose flying objects. Lifeboats and rafts were in short supply, and the equipment proved difficult to launch. There was also a shortage of personal rescue equipment. Many of those who were alive when they ended up in the sea drowned or froze to death.

"All hope is gone"

Officially, 80 ships, 19 helicopters, and seven planes from various countries participated in the Kielland rescue operation – in addition to several unidentified boats and fishing vessels which happened to be in the area.

The rescue operation following the disaster was extremely difficult. Challenging weather conditions and poor preparedness contributed to the complexities. The mission was ended two days later, when finding survivors was no longer realistic.

"All hope is gone," was the headline on the front page of Dagbladet on Saturday, March 29, 1980.

Turning point

No other accidents in the Norwegian petroleum industry have claimed more human lives than that of Alexander L. Kielland.

Following the incident, comprehensive areas of Norway's safety regime were reviewed and reformed. The changes that ensued continue to form the basis for safety work in the petroleum industry – and for the high safety level we have since achieved.

Accountability is key in current safety work. Companies have a clearly defined, overarching responsibility for ensuring safety in their own operations. The expectation of learning from accidents and serious incidents is also a fundamental aspect of today's regime. Continuous improvement is an additional requirement.

Precautionary principle

A focal aspect of today's safety work is the duty to prevent accidents and injuries. Prevention starts at the drawing board and in the planning phase when a facility is being designed and built.

Understanding risk, as well as insight into barrier principles, are both essential to preventing accidents and injuries. Expertise in the interplay between people, technology, and organization is crucial.

Preparedness

The Kielland disaster tragically illustrates what can happen if preparedness is lacking. Today, stringent requirements govern contingency plans for all companies responsible for the operation of platforms, rigs, and onshore facilities in the petroleum industry.

In the event of an incident, good preparedness will help to minimise the consequences. Contingency solutions must ensure that people can be quickly and efficiently rescued from dangerous situations – using lifeboats, emergency vessels, helicopters, and ships available in a given area.

Rescue operations must be carried out in close collaboration with the onshore rescue and health services.

Lifesaving equipment

In the aftermath of the Kielland disaster, several research projects were initiated, including those related to the improvement of lifeboat standards. Today's boats are fundamentally different from those used in 1980 – and regulations now require 200 percent lifeboat coverage on all offshore installations.

On Kielland, only a few of the 212 individuals onboard had access to survival suits. Today, the regulations require  200 percent survival suit coverage.

Over the years, high-tech and specially adapted survival suits have been developed, which can store heat, inter alia. Special suits for use in Arctic conditions have also been developed.

Regulatory consequences

The Alexander L. Kielland incident revealed numerous weaknesses and areas for improvement in the regulatory and supervisory arrangements on the shelf. In the years following the accident, a completely new safety regime was established.

The expectation that the industry actively contributes to regulatory development and standardization is a crucial element of the Norwegian petroleum regime. Regulatory development therefore takes place in close cooperation with the industry stakeholders. The Regulatory Forum is a central arena in this body of work.

Petroleum act

The Kielland accident had a significant impact on the organization of the regulatory regime in the petroleum industry. Five years on from the incident, in 1985, the Petroleum Act came into effect.

The Act introduced clear responsibilities between the various authorities as well as between the authorities and the industry.

Since 1985, development has slowly but surely moved away from detailed regulation towards so-called function-based regulatory requirements. The industry primarily develops the industry standards to which the function-based regulatory requirements refer.

Three phases

The development of the regulations from 1985 to today can be divided into three main phases:

1985-1995: Clean-up
Regulatory work in the period from 1985 to 1995 largely involved tidying up and streamlining what had gradually  become an extensive and fragmented regulatory framework. For example, regulations were simplified by dividing them by topic. In 1992, 13 new regulations were established, and in 1995, the Regulation on Systematic Follow-up of the Working Environment in the Petroleum Industry was introduced. This ensured that employees on floating installations were also covered by the Working Environment Act.

1995-2001: Cohesive set of regulations
In the work to further simplify the regulations, the authorities pledged to present a unified approach to the industry through consistent, coordinated and cohesive measures.

Several industry standards detailed the functional requirements. The new Norsok standards were developed under the direction  of the industry. These were based on the industry's collective experience from operations on the Norwegian shelf.

2001-2011: Sea and land
The most recent major regulatory reform in Norway came into force in 2011, with the introduction of cohesive regulations for offshore and onshore petroleum activities.

Although the structure and basic principles remain in place, the regulations for health, safety and environment are constantly evolving. These are updated annually to ensure that they are continuously adapted to reflect the challenges faced by the industry.