J. Ray McDermott Signs Joint Venture Agreement to Establish New Fabrication Facility...

J. Ray McDermott Signs Joint Venture Agreement to Establish New Fabrication Facility in China

HOUSTON--(Business Wire)--
McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE: MDR) ("McDermott" or the
"Company"), announced today that a subsidiary of J. Ray McDermott,
S.A. has entered into a joint venture with a subsidiary of state-owned
China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation ("CSIC").

The joint venture company, Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan Offshore
Engineering Company Ltd. ("McDermott Wuchuan"), plans to establish a
new facility on over 111 acres in HaiXiWan, Qingdao, Shandong, China.

This new facility is anticipated to be strategically located
adjacent to two new CSIC shipyards: Qingdao Wuchuan Heavy Industry Co.
Ltd. (J. Ray's joint venture partner) and Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding
Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. In this developing area, CSIC has one floating
dock and five dry docks capable of accommodating vessels up to 500,000
deadweight tons. McDermott Wuchuan anticipates focusing its business
on floating, production, storage, off-loading ("FPSO") vessel
construction and integration.

"FPSOs represent one of the fastest growing offshore construction
segments in our industry today," said Bob Deason, J. Ray's President
and Chief Executive Officer. "China already commands a significant
share of this market and has developed a proven project track record.
Establishing this new joint venture focusing on FPSO's will add a
critical component to J. Ray's comprehensive business strategy."

McDermott Wuchuan is planned to complement each partner's
respective strengths. J. Ray's integrated engineering, procurement,
construction and installation ("EPCI") capabilities and more than 60
years of international market experience will bring to the partnership
consistency of methods, standards and procedures, and continuity of
mature accredited project management systems, with a superior safety
culture.

CSIC brings a solid reputation as a leading shipbuilder, with
extensive market penetration, an ability to obtain hulls and access to
a large, skilled workforce. McDermott Wuchuan will offer solid,
competitive, integrated engineering and construction solutions to the
FPSO market worldwide.

McDermott Wuchuan's new facility is initially expected to permit
annual throughput of up to 33,000 tons, expending approximately six
million man-hours, per year. The facility will include structural and
pipe shops, blasting and painting facilities, module assembly
buildings, covered warehousing and lay down areas.

McDermott 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 over 20 countries with more than 20,000 employees, and can
be found on the internet at www.mcdermott.com.

In accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, McDermott International,
Inc., cautions that statements in this press release which are
forward-looking and which provide other than historical information,
involve risks and uncertainties that may impact actual results. The
forward-looking statements in this press release include statements
regarding the formation, focus and expected throughput of McDermott
Wuchuan's operations. Although McDermott's management believes that
the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are
reasonable, McDermott can give no assurance that those expectations
will prove to have been correct. Those statements are made by using
various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous
uncertainties and risks, including, but not limited to, adverse
changes in the FPSO or other markets in which McDermott Wuchuan
expects to operate, management's inability to commence operations, and
execute plans and objectives for the expected operations. If one or
more of these risks materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove
incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. For
a more complete discussion of these and other risk factors, please see
McDermott's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2007.

McDermott International, Inc.
Jay Roueche or Robby Bellamy, 281-870-5011
Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
www.mcdermott.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008