🔍 Key Concepts

• Air gap requirements for self-elevating drilling units like the COASTAL DRILLER • Relationship between charted water depth and required air gap in the unit’s limits of service table • How environmental conditions (waves, storm surge) are accounted for in minimum air gap

💭 Think About

• Look at how the limits of service are typically presented in the stability booklet or operating manual—does the required air gap stay constant or change as depth increases? • Ask yourself: for a depth of 200 feet, would the unit be in shallow, intermediate, or deeper water for its classified operating range, and how does that affect air gap? • Consider whether the required air gap is meant to cover worst-case vertical motions and wave crests, and whether that value is usually a round number or tied directly to depth.

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify the specific COASTAL DRILLER limits-of-service table used for your question—find the row that corresponds to 200 feet charted depth • Confirm you are reading the column labeled required air gap (or equivalent wording), not leg penetration or draft • Double‑check that you are not confusing maximum operating water depth with required air gap—they are different limits.