Peter Andreas Severinsson Brandal (21 December 1870 – 23 March 1933) was a Norwegian sealer and businessman. He was one of the founders of the community of

Ny-Ålesund Ny-Ålesund ("New Ålesund") is a small town in Oscar II Land on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. It is situated on the Brøgger peninsula (Brøggerhalvøya) and on the shore of the bay of Kongsfjorden. The company town is owned ...

on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway.

Biography

Brandal was born at the village of Brandal on the island of

Hareidlandet Hareidlandet is an island in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island is divided between Hareid Municipality and Ulstein Municipality. The island has a population of 13,030 (as of 2015). The island is mentioned by Snorri in his reports abou ...

in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. He was the son of Sevrin Olavius Martinus Larsen (1847–1934) and Davida Petersdatter (1842–1903). He started working as a fisher after confirmation and bought his first vessel in 1891. Eight years later it participated in its first

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

sealing expedition. Brandal participated in a fur hunting expedition to

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

in 1901. His fleet gradually increased, with focus on Arctic Ocean sealing. He stopped active seamanship in 1911 and became a manager for the fleet. Besides the hunting of seals, it now also hunted walrus. Brandal was also engaged in the processing of products from fishing activities through the establishment of a herring factory. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Norwegian access to a coal supply was limited. Brandal bought the coal mining claims at Kongsfjorden on Svalbard in 1916 for 250,000 Norwegian krone. He established Kings Bay Kull Comp. A/S (KBKC) that year and started mining that summer. The following year his company established the town of

. During the first years, several names were in use for the settlement, including Kings Bay, Kingsbay and Brandal City. Ny-Ålesund came into use in the early 1920s. Later Trygve Klausen, Michael Knutsen and Trygve Jervell joined Brandal as co-owners of the company. Production started quickly, but the company eventually met difficulties throughout the 1920s. Low coal prices due to the international financial crisis led to the total loss of 1929. After all mining operations in Ny-Ålesund were stopped, the Norwegian state acquired all the shares in KBKC in 1933. Kings Bay AS is now a government enterprise owned by the

Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry ( Norwegian: Nærings- og handelsdepartementet) was a Norwegian ministry responsible for business, trade and industry. On 1 January 2014 it was merged into Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheri ...

which operates the entire settlement of Ny-Ålesund.

References

Bibliography

External links

Kings Bay AS - Ny-Ålesund website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandal, Peter 1870 births 1933 deaths People from Hareid Norwegian fishers Norwegian company founders Norwegian businesspeople in shipping Norwegian businesspeople in mining Sealers

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography

External links