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To: John Carragher who wrote (32506)	5/27/2004 2:13:38 PM
From: excardog	Respond to of 206325

Saturday, May 15, 2004 Oil rig is finished, but has nowhere to go By MARK PETERS, Portland Press Herald Writer Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. E-mail this story to a friend Construction of Pride Portland, one of two giant oil rigs built in Portland Harbor, is complete. But no one is sure when it will leave Maine and begin earning its keep as an offshore drilling platform. Pride International, a Texas-based drilling company that manages and partially owns the $180 million rig, does not have an oil company for which to drill. Paul Bragg, Pride's chief executive officer, said in a phone interview Friday that it is discussing a contract with Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, while looking for other possible clients. Bragg said Pride Portland's twin rig, Pride Rio De Janeiro, which left Portland in February, is docked in Brazil awaiting work. The delay is costly because the massive vessel must be staffed and operational while it waits. "The cost meter is spinning rapidly on both of them," Bragg said. It is unclear when Pride Portland will leave Maine for open waters. Bragg said the rig will go through a certification process here, and then likely travel to the Caribbean to await work. He added, however, that the rig may remain in Portland Harbor while the company looks for a client. The completion of Pride Portland ends a two-year push by Pittsfield-based Cianbro Corp. to finish the rigs. In 2002, the drilling rigs arrived in pieces at the former Bath Iron Works pier in Portland after Cianbro won a $100 million contract to complete them. The two rigs have become a dominant feature on Portland's skyline, and a point of fascination for residents and visitors alike. The rigs arrived in Maine after their original builder in Mississippi filed for bankruptcy, leaving the project far from complete. Bragg said Pride had a multiyear contract with Petrobras when work started, but delays caused by the bankruptcy changed the circumstances. Cianbro has a lease into the fall on the city-owned shipyard where the rigs were built, and does not have a large, new project lined up to replace them. Because of this, Jeffrey Monroe, Portland's director of ports and transportation, said there is no rush to move Pride Portland to sea. Cianbro's work on the oil rigs won praise Friday from a top federal maritime official, who was in Portland to tour the harbor and attend a luncheon celebrating National Maritime Day. Capt. William Schubert, head of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration, said Cianbro has done an impressive job. "If they can do this project, they can do just about anything," Schubert said. Peter Vigue, Cianbro's president and chief executive officer, said the company's work on the Pride rigs already is landing it a contract to do similar rig construction in Texas. Vigue also is looking for additional work to bring to Maine to replace the Pride projects. Besides oil rigs, Cianbro is looking at possibly refurbishing cruise ships or a factory ship, assembling modular units for various industries, bidding on military contracts, or becoming the site for the inspection and repair of various oil rigs, Vigue and Monroe said. Schubert suggested the possibility of building vessels for short-speed shipping. This is a system the maritime administration is promoting where trucks use ferries in high-traffic areas to avoid congestion. Federal law requires ships used for transportation between U.S. ports to be built in this country, so foreign investors are looking for U.S. partners, Schubert said. Schubert also toured Pride Portland, since the maritime administration provides federal backing for loans taken out to build the rigs. This federal support guarantees that Cianbro will get paid for its work, a company spokeswoman said. Staff Writer Mark Peters can be contacted at 791-6325 or at: mpeters@pressherald.com