Steve Becnel News

1956: Elvis released his first album; the film debut of Invasion of the Body Snatchers was frightening American audiences; My Fair Lady opened on Broadway; and J. Ray McDermott began operations at the offshore industry's first dedicated steel fabrication yard near Morgan City, Louisiana. Among the major events of early 1956, many are now trivia, but the Morgan City "fab yard" continues to have a profound and lasting effect on the region and the world. Since its humble beginnings on April 1, 1956, J. Ray's Morgan City fabrication facility has built more offshore structures than any other fabrication facility and has served as the model for new offshore fabrication yards around the globe.

J. Ray McDermott ("J. Ray"), a subsidiary of McDermott International Inc. ("McDermott"), announced that it has been awarded a contract by Coastal Drilling Company, LLC to fabricate a drilling barge at J. Ray’s Morgan City, Louisiana facility. Coastal Drilling’s Rig #22, a 3,000 HP posted barge rig with dimensions of 250’ x 70’ x 18’ will be constructed in one of J. Ray’s onsite fabrication buildings. J. Ray will have upwards of 100 employees engaged to complete the barge work during the third and fourth quarter of 2005. The drill barge is scheduled to sail by January 2006. “We are very excited to have the opportunity to demonstrate our expertise and capabilities on this job.