Friede Goldman Offshore Settles Dispute

Friede Goldman Offshore Texas has reached a decision with Petrodrill IV and Petrodrill V concerning contract disputes over Friede Goldman's construction of two Amethyst-class deepwater semisubmersible drilling rigs for Petrodrill. The agreements have been approved by the boards of directors for both companies by MarAd, which is providing loan guarantees for the project.

The agreements call for the new delivery dates of Amethyst 4 and 5 to occur on September 15, 2001 and December 15, 2001, respectively. Both parties have agreed to increase the float-out milestone payment by $3 million per rig and to a final $6.4 million payment per rig at delivery, resulting in a new contract value of $186.8 million based upon the new delivery schedules. Both companies have also decided to terminate all pending litigation related to the project.