🔍 Key Concepts

• Consult the U.S. Coast Pilot and appropriate NOAA charts covering Norfolk, the Chesapeake Bay, the C&D Canal, and the Delaware River up to Philadelphia. • Remember that a deep draft vessel will normally follow the main ship channel rather than any shorter inshore or small-craft routes. • Pay attention to how distances are usually listed in references: often Norfolk to Baltimore, and Baltimore to Philadelphia, or similar legs that you may need to add.

💭 Think About

• Which standard shipping route would a deep draft commercial vessel actually use, and does that match a commonly published distance in routing guides? • Can you break the trip into logical legs (e.g., Norfolk to entrance of C&D Canal, through the canal, then out to Philadelphia) and estimate the distance of each leg from chart scales or tables? • Do any of the answer choices look unrealistically short or long when you compare them to known distances between major ports on the East Coast (for example, Norfolk to New York)?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify that you are using distances for the main deep‑water channels, not ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) or recreational routes. • Check whether your source distance is statute miles vs. nautical miles, and match that to the exam’s units for this question. • Confirm that any leg distances you use (e.g., Norfolk–C&D entrance, through the C&D Canal, down the Delaware to Philadelphia) are all in the same unit before adding them.