According to certain embodiments, a method is performed using a self-elevating vessel having at least one preload tank and a plurality of movable support legs each with a spudcan affixed at the base. The method comprises locating the self-elevating vessel at a first ocean environment, lowering the legs to a surface of a seafloor with a first bearing pressure requirement, and filling the at least one preload tank to a first volume that is sufficient to drive the footings into the seafloor. The first volume is different than a second volume that is a volume sufficient to drive the footings into a seafloor of a second ocean environment that has a different bearing pressure requirement than the seafloor of the first ocean environment. The preload tank is sized to have a volume capacity based on the greater bearing pressure requirement between the first and the second ocean environment.