Peter S. Brandal

In early August 1916, Peter S. Brandal walked around Kongsfjorden in Svalbard and considered whether he should buy the rights to operate a coal mine there.

He had received an offer from Supreme Court Attorney Trygve Klausen, who was acting on behalf of the City of Ålesund, who in turn had received an offer from Green Harbour Coal Co. to purchase the rights to the Kings Bay coal field.

So, on August 14, 1916, Peter S. Brandal made up his mind. He renewed the occupation of Kings Bay, and on the annexation sign his name is the last one to appear to this day, annexation renewed August 14, 1916. It was on that day that he decided to bet 250.000 kroner on the rights to the coal field.

For six weeks he was there planning the mining facility and his city, Brandal City.

They returned to Brandal in early September. The rights to the coalfield were transferred to Peter S. Brandal on September 23, 1916.

Later, these rights were transferred to a partnership with Peter S. Brandal, Trygve Klausen, Michael Knutsen and Trygve Jervell who on December 14, 1916, together formed the limited liability company Kings Bay Kul Comp. A/S. In the first half of the 1920s, the town changed its name to Ny-Ålesund.

Peter S. Brandal and Michael Knutsen were certain that Kings Bay would serve the country one day in the future and sacrificed a lot to keep the company alive. And they were proven right in the end, today Kings Bay in Ny-Ålesund is a world-renowned and important research city with 14 research institutions from 10 different countries.

We congratulate Kings Bay AS on its anniversary.

Sealing pioneer Peter S. Brandal is honored with a statue

The Ishavsmuseet has begun work on erecting a statue of Peter S. Brandal. The statue will be placed at the Ishavsmuseet in Brandal, and will be unveiled in September 2016.

This is 100 years after Peter S. Brandal returned to Brandal with 300 tons of coal from Svalbard with the ships "Signalhorn" and "Polaris". This was the start of the coalfield he founded as Kings Bay Kull Comp. A/S in Brandal City, or Ny-Ålesund as the place was later named.

The general manager of the Ishavsmuseet, Webjørn Landmark, says that the museum has long wanted to erect a statue to honor industrialist and sealing pioneer Peter S. Brandal. Now the museum felt that the time had come, and that there was a good opportunity to make this a reality for the 100th anniversary of Kings Bay next year. Landmark says that the museum is dependent on donations from both public and private donors, but he has great faith that this can be arranged. The museum has also recently launched a fundraising campaign for the purpose.

Artist Tore Bjørn Skjølsvik will create the statue. He has also previously created the statue of the Arctic queen, which has always stood at the Ishavsmuseet.

Peter S. Brandal was of course best known for his founding and innovative efforts in the Arctic Ocean industry, and throughout his life he devoted all his energy to this industry, which he helped shape and build from the ground up. He is considered to be the foremost pioneer in this area in Western Norway. The sealing industry in Sunnmøre in many ways laid the foundation for the large maritime industry that the region still benefits from.

Peter Andreas Sevrinson Brandal was born on December 21, 1870 in Brandal.

Peter quickly saw that if sealing was to be profitable, he had to invest in proper, purpose-built ships. From 1910, the new modern Arctic fleet arrived, which was specially built for sealing.

Peter was also concerned with the Greenland issue, and equipped his own expeditions to occupy land in Greenland in order to secure future hunting rights in this country that had so much to offer.

When Peter Brandal was confirmed, he had to go out and earn his living himself. Fishing was the only thing a young man could do. At the age of 20, he became a part-time sailor in a small fishing boat that was named "Brandal". With this boat, he was, among other things, the skipper on trips to Finnmark.

Later, together with others, he bought the approximately 56-foot long ice skate "Minna" in 1896.

On fishing trips to Troms and the Finnmark coast, Peter and his father Severin had noted the seal catch that was being driven from there and had noticed that these skates often came ashore with a full load. He had carefully noted their skates and what equipment they used.

The desire for adventure was in his blood and he decided to equip "Minna" for seal hunting.

In 1898 he traveled on his first trip to the Vesterisen. His father, Sevrin Brandal, traveled the same year on the ice skate "Nils Liaaen".

The Arctic Ocean fishing industry from Sunnmøre had now started, and it developed rapidly. It became one of the largest industries in Sunnmøre, and laid the foundation for much future wealth, prosperity, and the start of other maritime industries.

In Hareid municipality alone, there have been about 50 ships engaged in seal hunting. These needed equipment, repairs, etc., and many local businesses had their golden age as a result of the seal hunt.

After a while, Tjørvåg, Vartdal and Ålesund also joined in strongly in the seal hunt.

In 1900, Peter and his brother Ole, with their ice skates, "Minna" and "Havfruen", went to the east coast of Greenland and caught walrus, polar bears and musk oxen. The country had a lot to offer in terms of animals and furs, and a few years later a new industry was started here with wintering trapping.

In addition to the traditional hunt for seals out on the ice, walruses, muskoxen and polar bears were now also hunted close by, and partly on land. Muskoxen and polar bears were also attractive to try to capture alive for sale to zoos.

Luck followed Peter these years, and he was usually full of it.

In 1911, he and his brother Sigvald bought a newly built ship, which was named "Brandal". In the same year, he had "Jopeter" built at Bolsønes shipyard. The ship was named after his wife Josefine, and he himself Peter. This was the start of a groundbreaking development in modern sealing. From that time on, he stopped traveling on the Arctic Ocean himself.

In the years to come, he steadily expanded his Arctic operations, both at sea and on land. In 1912, he built a modern seal oil refinery and larger sea docks in Brandal. Now one new sealing ship after another also arrived.

Peter S. Brandal worked hard to build one of the first electricity plants in the rural district, here at Brandal. It was in 1912. The plant had about 50 hp of direct current.

During the war years, especially in 1916, there were great difficulties in purchasing coal for the steamboats. This applied to both Arctic ships and fishing boats. The shipping company had been blacklisted by British authorities due to trade relations with Germany during the war, and stocks of British coal were dwindling rapidly. Peter then realized that he had to find new ways again. The solution was to look for another location in the Arctic, when in 1916 Peter bought the Kings Bay coalfield in Svalbard from the estate of the mining magnate Chr. Anker.

The company Kings Bay Kul Co. A/S was founded in December of the same year and the construction work began with the preparation for the operation and construction of a small urban community, the world's northernmost at 79 degrees north, called Brandal City. A little later, new and larger capital came into the operation when Trygve Klausen, Michael Knutsen and Trygve Jervell, all from Ålesund, joined the ownership. After a few years, the "city" also changed its name to Ny-Ålesund.

In addition to mining, Ny-Ålesund also became a base for Roald Amundsen's polar expeditions by plane and airship in 1925 and 1926. A friendship developed between Brandal and Amundsen. Amundsen visited Brandal on a couple of occasions with Peter, and Amundsen was also given a house loan from Brandal in Ny-Ålesund, today known as the Amundsen Villa, before the major polar expeditions in 1925-26. And when Roald Amundsen left with the Latham plane in 1928, Brandal contributed to the search with two of his Arctic ships, paid for from his private account.

Peter built large quays and large sea warehouses in Brandal. In 1912 he formed another company and new and modern equipment was purchased for seal oil and transhipment. This was the start of what later became the Brandal Sildeoljefabrik, at that time the largest north of Bergen. In 1927/28 he expanded the herring oil factory that produced herring meal and herring oil for the next 50 years.

Peter was a healthy optimist and he had an outstanding ability to hire and initiate work, and also to get people to do their best. He had great confidence among the investors, who were often businessmen from the capital.

After the World War, in the years 1920-23 when the crisis made itself felt with stagnation in all production both on land and at sea, he believed that one should absolutely carry on one's business despite the fact that the operation resulted in losses.

He could not agree with the remedy for unemployment that the pessimists put forward most: that working hours should be constantly reduced and that work should be distributed more in shifts. He believed that this would lead to increased downtime in companies and no new measures.

Peter S. Brandal was also a man who shared his wealth. After good times during and after the First World War, he gave Hareid Church a magnificent church organ in 1919. A few years later he was also one of the largest contributors when new church bells were to be installed in the same church. He also helped his children and sons-in-law. Several of them also became Arctic shipping companies. His son-in-law Martin Karlsen later built up another of Sunnmøre's largest Arctic shipping companies; Martin Karlsen AS.

Peter S. Brandal was a member of the Arctic Council and in 1919 he was appointed Knight of the Order of St. Olav, 1st class, for his fundamental contributions to the Arctic industry.

He died on March 23, 1933, at the age of 63.

Peter S. Brandal (21.12.1870 – 23.03.1933)

Peter Severinsson Brandal was born in the village of Brandal in 1870. He started working as a fisherman as soon as he finished primary school. He had his first fishing trip at the age of 15.

When he was 20 years old, he became skipper of the sloop "Brandal" which he owned together with Lars R. Brandal. Later, he built himself a new sloop which he named "Minna". With this he wanted to try his hand at new fields. Thus he traveled to the Arctic Ocean to hunt seals in 1898.

This was the start of a new economic path for Brandal, and also for the whole of western Norway. This would last for about 80 years, before seal hunting began to decline. This made Peter S. Brandal's name known throughout the country. In 1901, Peter and his brother Ole went with the ships "Minna" and "Havfruen" to the northeast coast of Greenland to hunt fur animals on land. Peter S. gradually acquired many new ships. In 1911, he built the first purpose-built Arctic ship "Jopeter". In the same year, he also acquired "Brandal". Now he went ashore and became a shipowner. A seal oil boiler was built in 1912, and Peter S. was in charge of the construction of an electricity plant in 1912. New ships were added: "Løftingen" in 1914, "Signalhorn" in 1915, "Polaris" and "Aarvak" in 1916, "Brandalingen" in 1917, "Polaric" and "Harald" in 1921. A herring oil factory was built in 1928.

In the years around World War I, when there was a shortage of coal in the world, he joined forces with some businessmen in Ålesund and started the company Kings Bay Kull Comp. A/S which operated mining operations in Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard. (Brandal City was the first name of the place). They also built a railway here, the most advanced in the world, with 5 locomotives and 35 wagons. Peter S. was on the board of Kings Bay from 1916 – 1933. Several years as chairman and vice-chairman.

Through Kings Bay Kull Comp. AS, he ensured that Roald Amundsen received the best conditions in Ny-Ålesund during his work on his polar expeditions in 1925 and 1926. A good friendship developed between them, and when Roald Amundsen disappeared with the plane Latham in 1928, Peter S. Brandal sent two of his Arctic ships to search for him. Peter S. Brandal was a member of the Arctic Council and in 1919 he was appointed Knight of the Order of St. Olav, 1st class, for his fundamental contribution to the Arctic industry.