  {|    |} alexander l. kielland was a norwegian semi-submersible drilling rig that capsized whilst working in the ekofisk oil field in march 1980 killing 123 people. the capsize was the worst disaster in norwegian waters since world war ii. the rig, located approximately 320&nbsp;km east from dundee, scotland, was owned by the stavanger drilling company of norway and was on hire to the u.s. company phillips petroleum at the time of the disaster. the rig was named after the norwegian writer alexander lange kielland. the rig was built as a mobile drilling unit at a french shipyard, and delivered to stavanger drilling in july 1976. the floating drill rig was not however used for drilling purposes but served 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.understanding systems failures, ch. 5, bignell, v & fortune, j (1984) isbn 0-7190-0973-1 in 1980 the platform was working in the norwegian north sea providing offshore accommodation for the production platform edda 2/7c. ==accident== thumb|fractures on the right side of the rig in driving rain and mist, early in the evening of 27 march 1980 more than 200 men were off duty in the accommodation on alexander l. kielland. the wind was gusting to {{conver
1980_in_Norway 1980_industrial_disasters Collapsed_oil_platforms Disasters_in_Norway History_of_the_North_Sea Oil_platforms_off_Norway