J. Ray McDermott’s (J. Ray), Caspian subsidiary recently received four awards for outstanding achievements by the group’s marine operations and for its Health, Safety, Environment and Security (HSES) performance.

J. Ray’s Caspian Marine Fabrication Yard and the Sangachal Beach Pull and Near Shore Trenching operations group received BP-Azerbaijan President's Awards for completing all pipelay work associated with the Azeri, Chirag and deepwater Gunashli and Shah Deniz projects, operated by BP, without a single recordable injury.

Commenting on the significance of earning the two awards, Dan Houser, General Manager and Vice President, Caspian, said: “This is a world-class achievement which is particularly remarkable given the efforts made to recruit the Marine Fabrication Yard team from scratch, train riggers, welders and supervisors, upgrade the yard itself, establish the maintenance and support infrastructure and develop a reliable chain of vendors and suppliers.”

Earlier, in recognition of the Marine Fabrication Facility’s outstanding performance, J. Ray McDermott honored the group with the company’s own 2007 President’s Award. Top honors went to the Caspian team for operating more than three years – from start of operations in October 8, 2004 to November 30, 2007, the nomination period - without a recordable incident.

“This unprecedented achievement is a testament to the proactive, persistent and pervasive development of a strong culture and range of activities that fully integrate Safety, Quality, Ethics and Productivity into everyday operations – congratulations!” said Bob Deason, President and CEO.

The fourth award recognizes the top performance of the crew members of the pipelay barge Israfil Huseynov (PLBG) for their outstanding achievement in meeting or exceeding McDermott’s corporate Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) in 2007. In his Letter of Commendation Tim Chetwynd, J. Ray’s Global Director HSES, wrote: “To meet our corporate rate of 0.66 is no small achievement. In fact, it represents a performance that is as much as ten times better than an average American company. The PLBG team had an incident rate of 0.44, and is now one of only four J. Ray McDermott barge crews that have achieved this target to date. Your outstanding efforts over the past year qualify you as an HSES leader within J. Ray and ultimately, a true champion.”

Houser added, “To meet the corporate rate and achieve an incident rate of 0.44 is superb. We are continuously striving to maintain high quality and safety standards in our daily work. I express my appreciation to all members of the Caspian Marine Division for their work, their dedication to our high standards and for their great contribution to this accomplishment.”

J. Ray McDermott, S.A., a subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR), and its subsidiaries provide engineering, construction, procurement, installation and project management services to offshore oil and gas developments worldwide.

McDermott International, Inc. is an engineering and construction company, with specialty manufacturing and service capabilities, focused on energy infrastructure. McDermott’s customers are predominantly utilities and other power generators, major and national oil companies, and the United States Government.  With its global operations, McDermott operates in more than 20 countries with more than 20,000 employees.

Under contracts to Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), operated by BP, J. Ray McDermott successfully completed major topsides fabrication and pipeline installation work for the Azeri, Chirag and deepwater Gunashli (ACG) fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The company also performed an offshore installation project under for Stage 1 of the Shah Deniz gas and condensate development project operated by BP on behalf of the Shah Deniz partnership. Under contracts to the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), McDermott successfully completed two gas pipeline installation projects in the Gunashli and Bahar fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. In 2007, the company received a sub-sea pipeline installation project by OOO Lukoil-Nizhnevolzhskneft for the Yuri Korchagin field in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea.

J. Ray McDermott has established constructive working relationships with SOCAR and its subsidiaries Baku Deepwater Jacket Factory named after Heydar Aliyev (BDJF) and the Caspian Sea Oil Fleet. As part of its topsides fabrication contracts with AIOC, J. Ray McDermott executed a comprehensive upgrade program of the BDJF facilities and established a full project infrastructure at the BDJF yard.