Career
Born in Brandal, he started working as a fisher after confirmation. He bought his first vessel in 1891. Eight years later it participated in its first Arctic Ocean sealing expedition.
Brandal participated in a fur hunting expedition to Greenland in 1901.
His fleet gradually increased, with him focusing on Arctic Ocean sealing. He stopped active seamanship in 1911 and became a manager for the fleet.
Brandal bought the mining claims and land in Kongsfjorden in Svalbard in 1916 for 250,000 Norwegian krone. He established Kings Bay Kull Comp that year and started mining that summer.
The following year his company established Ny-Ålesund, which retained the name Brandal City until the early 1920.
Later M. Knutsen, Trygve Klausen and Tryge Jervell joined Brandal as co-owners of the company.