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353:. At around 21:30 hrs. a vessel from the Dutch company Smitlloyd came on location. The crew of this vessel heard people shouting for help. Maneuvering with great caution the Smitlloyd vessel encountered a life raft from the rig and after checking this raft it was found empty. It was very difficult to get this life raft on deck so the crew let the raft go. 2 more liferafts were found by the Smitlloyd vessel and they also were found empty. The crew heard still people shouting for help but due to the dense fog nobody was seen. The Smitlloyd vessel stayed on location for several days helping the coordinated rescue operation.
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398:) seemed to collectively play a role in the rig's collapse. Judging by paint on part of the fractured surface, the crack was probably due to improper work during the rig's construction in 1976. Other major structural elements then failed in sequence, destabilising the entire structure. The design of the rig was flawed owing to the absence of
264:. It could be used for drilling purposes or as a semi-submersible 'flotel' providing living quarters for offshore workers. By 1978 additional accommodation blocks had been added to the platform, so that up to 386 persons could be accommodated. In 1980, the platform was providing offshore accommodation for the production platform
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could have escaped, had a more effective command structure been in place. These revised command structures, similar to conventional shipping command structures, are now frequently put into use when vessels lose anchorage in storm conditions or when fixed installations are threatened by out-of-control vessels.
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disaster, North Sea offshore installations tightened their command organization, identifying a clear authority who would order abandonment in case of emergency. The fourteen minutes between initial failure of the leg and the rig's eventual capsize left a window in which most of the personnel on board
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and twenty 20-man rafts. Four lifeboats were launched, but only one managed to release from the lowering cables. (A safety device did not allow release until the strain was removed from the cables). A fifth lifeboat came adrift and surfaced upside down; its occupants righted it and gathered nineteen
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in the flange plate and cold cracks in the underlying groove weld. Cold cracks in the welds, increased stress concentrations due to the weakened flange plate, the poor weld profile, and cyclical stresses (which would be common in the
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which joined a non-load-bearing flange plate to this D-6 bracing. This flange plate held a sonar device used during drilling operations. The poor profile of the fillet weld contributed to a reduction in its fatigue strength.
345:, which took an hour to reach the scene. Of the 212 people aboard the rig, 123 had been killed, making it the worst disaster in Norwegian offshore history since the
507:) It was broadcast in the UK in February 2022 by BBC Four. The disaster and subsequent rescue operation were spread over episodes seven and eight of Series Two (
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467:, suffered a jammed ballast valve, causing her to list twenty degrees, but was later righted again. Approximately eighteen months later,
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The failure to deploy lifeboats led to new legislation regarding on-load release hooks for lifeboats on oil rigs. As a consequence, the
288:. Conditions were rainy with dense fog, with the wind gusting to 40 knots (74 km/h) and waves up to 12 metres (39 ft) high.
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in one of its six bracings (bracing D-6), which connected the collapsed D-leg to the rest of the rig. This was traced to a small 6mm
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heeled over 30° and then stabilised. Five of the six anchor cables had broken, the one remaining cable preventing the rig from
451:), the memorial depicts a broken chain link. It weighs about five tonnes (5.5 tons) and stands four metres (13 ft) high.
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Fjord after a search for missing bodies had been completed, as well as several tests to determine the cause of the disaster.
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at a French shipyard, and delivered to
Stavanger Drilling in July 1976. The rig was named after the Norwegian writer
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Minutes before 18:30, those on board felt a 'sharp crack' followed by 'some kind of trembling'. Suddenly
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and the deadliest offshore rig disaster of all time up to that point. Most of the workers were from
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and rescued thirteen survivors. Seven men were taken from the sea by supply boats and seven swam to
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A fictionalised account of the disaster was first broadcast in Norway in 2018 in the drama series
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The
Capsize of the accommodation platform "Alexander L. Kielland" in the North Sea 27 March 1980
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Early in the evening of 27 March 1980, more than 200 men were off duty in the accommodation on
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s rafts were detached and three men were rescued from them. Two 12-man rafts were thrown from
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continued to increase and at 18:53, the remaining anchor cable snapped and the rig capsized.
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was recovered in 1983 at the third attempt. The rig was scuttled later that year in the
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to be fitted with hooks that could be released even when they were under load.
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Understanding
Systems Failures, Ch. 5, Bignell, V & Fortune, J (1984)
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130 men were in the mess hall and the cinema when the capsizing occurred.
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Part of the bracing that failed during the accident (on display in the
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Compagnie
Francaise d’Entreprises Métalliques (CFEM), Dunkerque, France
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A memorial to the disaster was erected in 1986 on the coast of
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respectively). The political approach was portrayed in the
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An animation by
Failure Analysis Associates (now Exponent)
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587:"Alexander L. Kielland: Norway's worst offshore disaster"
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Further, the investigation found considerable amounts of
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In March 1981, an investigative report concluded that
631:. International Maritime Organisation. Archived from
240:. The rig, located approximately 320 km east of
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613:. Rescue Coordination Centre Southern Norway. 1980.
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473:capsized in similar weather conditions off the
477:coast. An investigation into the cause of the
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705:. Associated Press. 7 April 1980. p. 6A
551:. Norwegian Petroleum Museum. 6 January 2024
1166:History of the petroleum industry in Norway
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788:Oil rig disasters listing and descriptions
545:"Who were the owners of the Kielland rig?"
432:issued a requirement for all lifeboats on
823:Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1980
341:No one was rescued by the standby vessel
71:Learn how and when to remove this message
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34:This article includes a list of general
527:). It was broadcast in Norway in 2023.
16:Norwegian semi-submersible drilling rig
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661:. Officer of the watch. 29 April 2013.
280:Fractures on the right side of the rig
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725:"Makta (TV Series 2023–2024) - IMDb"
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292:had just been winched away from the
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699:"57 evacuated from tilting oil rig"
430:International Maritime Organization
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589:. Safety4Sea. 19 November 2019
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248:at the time of the disaster.
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679:. Industrial Heritage Ekofisk
655:"Alexander Kielland Disaster"
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1191:Man-made disasters in Norway
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1201:March 1980 events in Europe
323:men from the water. Two of
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1196:Disasters in the North Sea
1181:Maritime incidents in 1980
673:Norwegian Petroleum Museum
463:capsized, her sister rig,
367:Norwegian Petroleum Museum
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1176:1980 industrial disasters
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659:www.officerofthewatch.com
483:United States Coast Guard
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1171:Oil platforms off Norway
1045:October (unknown date):
783:Petroleum Museum, Norway
443:. Named "Broken Chain" (
262:Alexander Lange Kielland
224:that, on 27 March 1980,
198:103 m (338 ft)
1161:Collapsed oil platforms
256:The rig was built as a
206:99 m (325 ft)
190:General characteristics
55:more precise citations.
952:April (unknown date):
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174:56.464839°N 3.104464°E
935:Alexander L. Kielland
400:structural redundancy
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296:production platform.
286:Alexander L. Kielland
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214:Alexander L. Kielland
131:Stavanger Drilling II
114:Alexander L. Kielland
97:Alexander L. Kielland
258:mobile drilling unit
703:The Lakeland Ledger
677:"Kielland memorial"
625:"MSC Circular 1327"
420:In response to the
377:collapsed due to a
179:56.464839; 3.104464
170: /
155:Capsized / sunk at
123:A. Gowart-Olsen A/S
635:on 13 October 2022
505:State of Happiness
489:was not a factor.
487:structural failure
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246:Phillips Petroleum
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493:Fictional account
485:established that
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147:5 June 1976
53:introducing
1155:Categories
1048:Panagiotis
1038:Prinsendam
1028:Derbyshire
883:Blackthorn
850:HMCS
830:Shipwrecks
531:References
525:Power Play
343:Silver Pit
162:56°27′53″N
61:March 2011
36:references
1110:Seadaniel
1057:USS
1018:Bellubera
1006:USS
997:Stribling
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903:USS
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639:3 January
500:Lykkeland
445:Norwegian
441:Kvernevik
410:Nedstrand
396:North Sea
320:lifeboats
305:capsizing
234:North Sea
165:3°06′16″E
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301:Kielland
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272:Accident
226:capsized
144:Launched
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519:series
252:History
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105:History
99:(right)
49:improve
1008:Duncan
905:Abatan
683:8 July
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509:Mayday
307:. The
268:2/7C.
242:Dundee
195:Length
38:, but
862:Salem
521:Makta
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120:Owner
1142:1981
1129:1979
730:IMDb
711:2010
685:2022
641:2017
595:2024
571:ISBN
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517:NRK1
511:and
336:Edda
332:Edda
309:list
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203:Beam
152:Fate
110:Name
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