Preferred stock, accretion of redemption discount, accretion period.

No definition available.

Name:	mdr_PreferredStockAccretionOfRedemptionDiscountAccretionPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	mdr_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Quarterly financial information.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	mdr_QuarterlyFinancialInformationLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	mdr_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Net Increase or Decrease in the fair value of the embedded derivative or group of embedded derivatives included in earnings in the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 15
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/subtopic&trid=2229187

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EmbeddedDerivativeGainLossOnEmbeddedDerivativeNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of the cost of borrowed funds accounted for as interest expense.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6450988&loc=d3e26243-108391

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114775744&loc=d3e28555-108399

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 22
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=115929826&loc=d3e8736-108599

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (210.5-03(11))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116634182&loc=SL114868664-224227

Reference 5: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 220
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-04.9)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116637391&loc=SL114874048-224260

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InterestExpense
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The percentage rate used to calculate dividend payments on preferred stock.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PreferredStockDividendRatePercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date the preferred stock has been redeemed, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109259400&loc=d3e21564-112644

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109259400&loc=d3e21475-112644

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PreferredStockRedemptionDate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis=us-gaap_RedeemablePreferredStockMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=mdr_SuperpriorityCreditAgreementMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementLocationAxis=us-gaap_InterestExpenseMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ReclassificationOutOfAccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeAxis=us-gaap_ReclassificationOutOfAccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) - Selected Unaudited Quarterly Financial Information (Parenthetical) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 21, 2019	Nov. 29, 2018	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2019
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Interest expense			$ 316	$ 316
Preferred stock dividend rate	14.00%
Redeemable Preferred Stock [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Preferred stock dividend rate		12.00%			12.00%
Redemption value accretion period (in years)		7 years
Expected redemption date		Nov. 29, 2025
Superpriority Credit Agreement [Member] \| Interest Expense [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Gain associated with valuation of embedded derivative				32
Reclassification out of AOCI [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Interest expense				$ 67	$ 67