J Ray McDermott Inc history

The Olsen Dredging Company was established in 1939 as a result of this purchase.

In August 1947, McDermott set the world's first steel template platform in 20 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico, for the Superior Oil Company.

In 1950, to handle numerous customer requests for pipeline construction, J. Ray McDermott & Company established a pipeline department.

By 1953 McDermott had built another derrick barge, with a lifting capacity of 250 tons.

In 1956 Bayou Boeuf Fabricators became McDermott's fourth division, and the world's largest offshore structure fabrication yard.

McDermott had grown since Howson, a civil engineer, came to the company in 1957.

In 1958 McDermott acquired Associated Pipeline Contractors, to supplement its domestic pipeline business and provide international expansion opportunities.

In 1959 McDermott acquired Dupont Fabricators, to supplement the light fabrication capabilities of McDermott Fabricators, which eventually absorbed the new unit.

McDermott continued to move into the international sphere, establishing an office in Beirut in 1960.

In 1965 the first 500-ton derrick barge was introduced.

By 1967, however, new methods were required to install the increasingly large skeletal outer structures--called jackets--that supported the platform decks.

In 1969 McDermott acquired the stock and subsidiaries of Hudson Engineering Corporation.

R. Thomas McDermott died in 1970, after serving as chairman for nearly 25 years.

In 1978 a federal grand jury returned indictments alleging conspiracy among some officers of McDermott and of its competitor Brown & Root to restrain or eliminate competition in marine construction.

In 1979, James E. Cunningham became chairman.

In 1983, with McDermott's international business growing in stature, the company was reorganized again.

The oil business began to recover in 1988, and by mid-1988 McDermott's fortunes had begun to improve.

CEO Robert E. Howson resigned in September 1996; James L. Dutt became interim chairman and CEO. In October, after two quarters of losses, McDermott announced a plan to cut noncore businesses--this would be a familiar refrain for the rest of the decade.

Roger Tetrault was named CEO in February 1997.