Families welcome Norway rig deaths compensation

Families of British workers killed in an oil rig disaster 45 years ago have welcomed the Norwegian government's decision to pay them compensation.

More than 120 people died, including 22 Brits, when the Alexander Kielland floating platform capsized in the Norwegian North Sea oil fields on 27 March 1980.

Several relatives were in Oslo to see the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, agree by a narrow margin to pay compensation to survivors and the families of the deceased.

Laura Fleming, whose father was one of those killed, said the agreement was long overdue recognition of the Norwegian state's failings.

Ms Fleming, from Durham, previously said there were unanswered questions about the disaster, which killed her father Michael and five of his compatriots from the Cumbrian village of Cleator Moor.

The compensation motion had been opposed by the government but ed through the Storting by 53 votes to 51.

Ms Fleming, who was six when her 37-year-old dad died, said: "It's only right the Norwegian government have eventually done the right thing and agreed to pay a tiny amount of their wealth to the people that unwillingly and unwittingly sacrificed their lives.

"This feels likes a weight has been lifted of our shoulders."

She praised the Kielland Network, a campaign group set up by survivors and families of the deceased to call for justice.

"People have given years of their lives to this cause and we are very grateful for the work that has been done," Ms Fleming said.

Among the 40 of the Kielland Network who attended the vote in central Oslo, there was a great deal of sadness that the group's founder, Kian Reme, was not there with them.

Mr Reme, whose brother Rolf was killed in the disaster, died in 2024 from cancer.

"He was the reason we got this far," Ms Fleming said, adding: "He was a man with strength of fight but also full of peace and forgiveness.

"He'd be so happy if he were here, but I'm sure he's up there proudly looking down at what everyone has continued to achieve."

Tara Pender, who lives near Nottingham, was with Ms Fleming in Oslo to see the vote .

Ms Pender, who was 10 when her 41-year-old father PJ Pender was killed, also paid tribute to Mr Reme.

"It's such a shame Kian is not here," she said, adding: "He was amazing and worked tirelessly on this for so many years."

She said the result was "very bittersweet" as many relatives and survivors had died before they got the recognition of failings from the Norwegian government they had craved.

"It's just been such a long time coming," Ms Pender said.

She said she had spoken to several other British families of the deceased in the aftermath of the vote and they were "all delighted".

The four-year-old platform was being used as accommodation for the nearby Edda rig in the Ekofisk oil field about 200 miles (320km) off the coast from Stavanger, Norway, when one of its legs broke off during a storm.

A 1981 Norwegian inquiry attributed the disaster to a crack in one of the braces caused during its construction in , but the manufacturers said it had not been maintained or anchored properly by its operators.

Some people received compensation at the time from the company which ran the oil rig, Phillips Petroleum, but campaigners said the Norwegian state should also accept responsibility.

A University of Stavanger study published in 2025 said families and the 89 survivors were let down by official investigations, while a 2021 review by the Norwegian auditor general found "highly reprehensible" failures to hold any of the companies involved in the disaster to , or to families and survivors.

The Norwegian government apologised and funded the study to assess the impact on those affected.

The government has opposed the compensation proposal put forward by a coalition of opposition parties but it ed by two votes, with further details now to be determined.

Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.