The Alexander Kielland Disaster: What Really Caused the Rig to Fail?

More than four decades later, Dr France believes the accepted explanation does not tell the full story.

A welding engineer with 50 years of experience, Dr France has spent years independently investigating the disaster. In Part One of our conversation, he explains the fundamentals of welding and welding engineering before taking us through his analysis of the Kielland failure.

We discuss the condition of the rig when it left the shipyard, hydrogen induced cracking, fatigue, weld procedures, inspection, the evidence he says can still be seen in recovered wreckage, and why he believes the origins of the disaster can be traced back to the rig’s construction in 1976.

This is a detailed and at times challenging look at one of the North Sea’s most significant offshore disasters, from the perspective of a welding engineer who has spent years studying the evidence.