PRESS RELEASE: March 05, 2006

J. Ray McDermott Awarded Pipeline Contract by Vietsovpetro

McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR) (“McDermott”) announced today that a subsidiary of J. Ray McDermott, S.A. (“J. Ray”) has been awarded a contract by Vietsovpetro to install a 298 kilometer, 18” gas pipeline. J. Ray will perform the project in alliance with Petroleum Technical Services Company (“PTSC”). Contracts of this type are typically valued at over US$60 million, which is part of the overall Ca Mau development project by PetroVietnam.

The PM3-Ca Mau gas pipeline will originate from the Bunga Raya ‘B’ platform, located on block PM3 in the Commercial Arrangement Area of the Gulf of Thailand, to the landfall station in the Ca Mau province of Vietnam.

“The project represents one of the largest pipeline installation jobs undertaken in Asia Pacific in recent years, and provides us a great opportunity to leverage the strengths of our offshore capabilities,” said Bob Deason, President and Chief Operating Officer of J. Ray. “J. Ray has worked with Vietsovpetro on several projects in the past and our successful track record of joint operations with PTSC will definitely be an advantage in ensuring this project is a success.”

The contract is part of the Gas Power Fertilizer Coordination Project operated by PetroVietnam. As part of the project, J. Ray will perform construction engineering, partial procurement, and pipeline installation, including installation of a riser using its Asia Pacific based marine vessels.

McDermott International, Inc. is a leading worldwide energy services company. McDermott subsidiaries provide engineering, fabrication, installation, procurement, research, manufacturing, environmental systems, project management and facility management services to a variety of customers in the energy and power industries, including the U.S. Department of Energy. Additional information on McDermott can be obtained 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 provide other than historical information involve risks and uncertainties that may impact McDermott’s actual results of operations. The forward-looking statements in this press release include, among other things, the work scope and the typical value of these projects. 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 based on various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including without limitation change orders and other modifications to contracts. 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 risk factors, please see McDermott’s annual report for the year ended December 31, 2005 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For more information, please contact:

Louise Denly
Director, Public Relations
J. Ray McDermott, Inc.
Houston, TX
(281) 870-5000
E-Mail:ldenly@mcdermott.com
www.mcdermott.com