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Offshore/Gulf of Mexico Report When Cianbro Corporation approached Petrodrill, an international rig-owning company with Brazilian and American shareholders, about completing two partial- ly-built oil rigs in 2002. some thought Cianbro President and CEO Peter Vigue was out of his mind. "What they didn't understand is that Cianbro has a secret:our people," said Vigue. "Our people were ready, willing, and able to take on this challenge. And. with two completed rigs to their credit, they were right." The Maine firm had no experience or track record in oil rig construction when Vigue sought out the Petrodrill project. One of the East Coast's largest con- struction companies, Cianbro was best known for large civil and heavy industrial projects. Two of the compa- ny's most recent major projects before taking on the rigs included North America's largest cement plant in northern Maryland and the eastern seaboard's heaviest lift span bridge in New Haven, Conn. Vigue holds an engineering degree from Maine Maritime Academy, but he wasn't necessarily looking to branch the 2,200-member, employee-owned compa- ny out into shipbuilding. What he was looking for was a project that would permit many of the 1,200 workers based in Maine to work there instead of traveling to project sites out of state. What he found was a pair of incomplete oil exploration rigs, orphaned by the bank- ruptcy of their original contractor. Vigue realized that the part of the project least famil- iar to Cianbro's people had already been done. The structural components of the two rigs already existed. What was left to be done was essentially like any other large, industrial, construction project-and large, indus- trial, construction projects are Cianbro's bread and but- ter. What was more, ships are mobile. Within limits, they can go to where the workers are, rather than the The driller's cabin. The master bridge panel. Derrick Load Test of 1 million pounds. 28 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News
