A comprehensive guide to deepwater drillships covering everything that maritime and drilling experts, as well as the layman, need to know about these exceptional feats of engineering. Deepwater drillships are used to excavate, drill, and pump oil and other natural gases to the surface for later refining at other facilities. Provided here are the primary structures, equipment, and processes used by drillships. Because drillships are considered both drilling units and vessels, someone with a marine background will understand how drilling equipment works, and similarly someone with a drilling background will now know how the vessel aspect works. Also covered are the basics of marketing, the history of drillships, what the future drillship will look like, and technological advancements being made today. AUTHOR: Peter Tomdio is a merchant mariner currently working for Transocean Deepwater Drilling. He has 10 years of professional work experience, mostly on deepwater drillships. Peter currently serves as chief mate (chief officer), which is second in the chain of command on vessels. 40 colour images