PORTLAND – Early Saturday night, dozens of people are expected to wander down to the harbor to bid farewell to the Pride Portland, the second of two massive rigs assembled here the past two years.

Construction on the rig was completed this spring.

However, because its owners hadn’t lined up work for the multimillion dollar vessel, it has remained in Portland except for a brief sea trial.

Pride Portland is scheduled to ship out at high tide Saturday, or at approximately 6 p.m.

Tugs will begin hooking up to the rig about 3:30 p.m. By 5 p.m., the rig will start moving away from the pier.

Soon after, the Portland will begin to sail under its own power.

Pittsfield-based Cianbro Corp. had a $100 million contract to complete Pride Portland and its twin, Pride Rio De Janeiro, which left the city in February.

According to the Cianbro Web site, the departure marks the end of a most unusual and passionate love affair between Maine’s largest city and the two oil rigs.

“Thanks to the city of Portland with their open arms and deep water port, and thanks to the people of Maine with a work ethic second to none, the second rig will sail south to the Caribbean and eventually to work,” it says on Cianbro’s site.

Portland residents were delighted with the rigs and enjoyed watching their progress, according to Cianbro.

“We weren’t sure how the city was going to feel about these rigs on the waterfront,” said Dottie Hutchins, a Cianbro spokeswoman. “We thought they might think they were too large or too cumbersome, and we were totally, totally amazed.”

According to the Web site, the oil rig project created more than 1,000 construction jobs, with 85 percent of those jobs going to Mainers.

The presence of the rigs also paid a $1 million in annual rent to the city of Portland.