BEAUMONT -- An oil drilling rig built in Beaumont for service in Yemen was recently loaded on board a cargo ship at the Port of Beaumont.

The rig, estimated to cost about $6 million, was fabricated in Beaumont by IRI International Corp., 1795 Laurel Ave. The company began working on the rig in October and finished in mid-February. The rig was loaded aboard the 518-foot-long ship "Sea Eagle," March 5.

Weldon Walker, IRI's plant manager, said he is pleased the company was able to use the local port for the shipment of the rig.

"The fact that we have a world-class ocean port right here in Beaumont allowed IRI to be more competitive on our pricing for this rig," he said. Walker noted the company was able to save on inland transportation because the components of the rig had to be trucked only a few miles to the port, rather than to a more distant port. The proximity of the port to the plant also simplified coordination of the truck shipments and movement of the oversize components, he added.

The rig was disassembled and its components moved to the port by trucks beginning in mid-February. For shipment, the rig was broken down into 31 components weighing a total of 543 tons. The largest pieces are the rig's mast assembly, which weighs 124,000 pounds; the drawworks, 120,000 pounds, and the substructure, 110,000 pounds.

Bill Masters, port director, said, "We are very happy that IRI International is able to use the Port of Beaumont for this shipment. The port and IRI have a long history of doing business together for drilling equipment to all parts of the world. It is a source of pride to us when the port is able to be of service to a local company, and in this way to help the economy of southeast Texas."

IRI shipped the rig to the Hashedi Trading Company in Yemen, a country on the southern Arabian Peninsula. The rig is rated for drilling at depths of 15,000 feet and is powered by four 1,200-horsepower engine/generator sets. The mast rises a total of 167 feet above the ground and is capable of raising and lowering a total weight of 750,000 pounds of pipe.

Agent for the ship was Aztec Shipping and the stevedore was Flanagan Shipping.