A Momentous Day' Norway Votes to Pay Families Over 1980 Oil Rig Disaster

"I think we all feel like we've had a bit of a weight lifted off our shoulders," said Laura Fleming after an important milestone in one of Europe's longest-running industrial disaster sagas. "It is just 45 years too late."

- Mark Brown

Fleming's father, Michael, was one of 123 men who were killed when the Alexander L Kielland accommodation rig capsized during a fierce storm in the Norwegian North Sea oilfields on 27 March 1980.

After decades of campaigning and investigations, no person, body or company has been directly held to account for what happened.

But Norway's parliament finally voted last week to set up a state compensation scheme for relatives of the men who died.

Fleming, 51, was in Oslo to witness the vote at Norway's parliament, the Storting, and said she had mixed emotions.

"My mind is always in two places," she said. "I will always feel in my heart that justice hasn't been done because, actually, nobody has been personally held to account for the dreadful decisions that were made regarding that rig - by allowing it to be used in the North Sea when it wasn't safe to do so.

"However, this is a major step. I think it's a momentous day for everybody, especially the Norwegians who've been fighting for the full 45 years."