The bid procedure for the first uprighting attempt in summer 1980 was managed by the rig operator Stavanger Drilling. Contractor selection was to be done by Stavanger Drilling in cooperation with the insurance companies representative Storebrand. At the bid committee meeting on July 18th 1980 it proved that all bids had been opened in advance. The successful bider became a joint venture between Nicoverken and Structural Dynamics Marine Ltd. Nicoverken had strong personel ties to Storebrand. SD-Marine was a relativly fresh company. They had prior to uprighting <<Kielland>> done some work on Ekofisk and on Claymore. A few members of the Company had been employees of Foster-Wheeler. Harold Pass and Alan Whittaker were Company Directors. Pass and Whittaker had also contact with individuals in Stolt-Nielsen related to the second uprighting attempt in 1983. Whittaker hired Scot Kobus as operation manager. When the operation turned out to be a failure Scot Kobus decided to increase uprighting force by crane application. This operation was stopped by the Labour Government. The operation failed because turning power was inadequate. The weight and center of gravity of the rig turned out to be different from expected. There was a lot of air trapped inside the rig which lost its positive effect when the deck raised above water at approximately 100 - 110 degrees.
(Status April 2nd 1997...........not completed.)