Opening the Archives

The Norwegian Petroleum Museum has published an article about the Alexander Kielland accident in the Journal of Energy History, in collaboration with the National Archives of Norway, which is available here. The article is a part of the larger documentation project and aims to present key documentation compiled by the Petroleum Museum, National Archives and the University of Stavanger, as well as highlighting its significance for researchers, survivors of the accident and their relatives.

Bereaved often struggle with the feeling that they were left without any information and follow-up not only in the time after the accident, but also in the longer term. The documentation project has, together with its partners, worked on making archival materials available to the public. Records are stored in several different archives, stemming from everything from private individuals to commercial businesses and government entities. The lion’s share is stored in public archives that are spread across a multitude of departments and institutions that end up in the care of the National Archives after 25 years, which then make them publicly available.

The key public archives consist of:

The Official Commission of Inquiry for the Alexander Kielland accident

The Stavanger Police Chamber

Archives of Prime Ministers Nordli, Brundtland and Willoch

Miscellaneous ministerial archives

Although the mandate of the National Archives is to make archival materials public, there are several factors that can limit what and how much can be published. One such factor is that private entities are under no obligation to hand over their archives, and if handed over, the giver is free to set terms and conditions for access.

The key private archives consist of:

Stavanger Drilling AS, Rig owner.

The Kielland Foundation, Foundation consisting mainly of survivors and the bereaved.

Phillips Petroleum Company, Rig operator

Other factors impacting publicization are GDPR and Norwegian Privacy laws. As many of the documents contain sensitive and identifiable information, the archives have to be manually checked before they can be published. This is labor-intensive, but the National Archives have still managed to make over 200 000 pages public to date. In order to aid usability, they have been made accessible digitally with a search function embedded.

There are also archives that have not been transferred to the National Archives, making access more difficult. They include:

CFEM, French shipyard

DNV, rig inspector

The Director of Public Prosecutions

The Regional Public Prosecution Offices

National Workers Movement Archives, ANMT France

Importance of opening archives

Following major disasters and tragic events, attention is often directed to the case in an attempt to understand what happened, why it happened and how it can be prevented. In these situations it is important to make materials public so that open dialogues and discussions are best facilitated.

During the investigation of the Kielland accident several key reports were kept confidential. This in turn leaves many of those affected wondering. Even though the Auditor General concluded that there is not a basis for a new inquiry, there are still many questions that are unanswered. Publicizing archival materials will partly let those who were affected by the accident lay their questions to rest. Several people have also reported that being able to find out and have closure as to what happened to their father, son, husband and brother is a part of a healing process that they were denied at the time.

One part of the documentary work that is being done is expanding the Memory Bank, a digital collection of memories from those who were affected by the accident. In this Memory Bank, an ever-growing number of testimonies weave a web that allows people to understand what happened, not only on a macro level but down to the individual experiences of those involved, and heal from it.