Port and starboard

Port and starboard are nautical and aeronautical terms of orientation that deal
unambiguously with the structure of vessels and aircraft. Their structures are largely
bilaterally symmetrical, meaning they have mirror-image left and right halves if
divided long-ways down the middle.

One asymmetric feature is that on aircraft and ships where access is at the side, this
access is usually only provided on the port side.

Contents
Side
Etymology
Importance of standard terms
See also
References

Side
To understand which is which, when a person is on board and facing the bow on a
vessel or aircraft, that is, facing forward towards the direction the vehicle is heading
when underway, the port side is the left-hand side and the starboard side is the
right-hand side. However, port and starboard never change; they are unambiguous
references that are not based on the relative directions of an observer, just as the
cardinal directions of east and west do not change no matter the direction a person Schematic view of a ship'snavigation
lights indicating its port (red) and
faces.[1][2]
starboard (green) sides.

Etymology
The term starboard derives from the Old English steorbord, meaning the
side on which the ship is steered. Before ships had rudders on their
centrelines, they were steered with a steering oar at the stern of the ship on
the right hand side of the ship, because more people are right-handed.[1]
Since the steering oar was on the right side of the boat, it would tie up at the
wharf on the other side. Hence the left side was called port.[4] The Oxford
English Dictionary cites port in this usage since 1543.[5]

Image from the Bayeux Tapestry showing a
longship with a steering oar on the
starboard side[3]
Formerly, larboard was often used instead of port. This is from Middle
English ladebord and the term lade is related to the modern load.[2]
Larboard sounds similar to starboard and in 1844 the Royal Navy ordered
that port be used instead.[6] The United States Navy followed suit in 1846.[7]
Larboard continued to be used well into the 1850s bywhalers.

An Anglo-Saxon record of a voyage byOhthere of Hålogalandused the word "bæcbord" ("back-board") for the left side of a ship.
Importance of standard terms
The navigational treaty convention, the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
—for instance, as appears in the UK's Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of
Collisions) Regulations 1996 (and comparable US documents from the US Coast Guard)[8]—sets
forth requirements for maritime vessels to avoid collisions, whether by sail or powered, and
whether a vessel is overtaking, approaching head-on, or crossing.[8]:11-12 To set forth these
navigational rules, the terms starboard and port are absolutely essential, and to aid in in situ
decision-making, the two sides of each vessel are marked, dusk to dawn, by navigation lights, the
[8]:15 Aircraft are lit in the same way.
vessel's starboard side by green and its port side by red.

See also Oncoming boat

indicating its port (red)
Anatomical terms of location, another example of terms of directionality that do not and starboard (green)
depend on the location of the observer for things that are bilaterally symmetrical sides
Direction (disambiguation)
Glossary of nautical terms
Handedness
Laterality
Proper right and proper left
Reflection symmetry
Sinistral and dextral

References
1. NOS Staff (December 8, 2014)."Why Do Ships use "Port" and "Starboard" Instead of "Left" and "Right?
" " (http://oce
anservice.noaa.gov/facts/port-starboard.html). NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS)Ocean Facts. Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) . Retrieved February 2,
2017 – via OceanService.NOAA.gov.
2. RMG Staff (February 2, 2017). "Port and Starboard: Why do Sailors say 'Port' and 'Starboard', for "Left" and
"Right?" " (http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/facts/faqs/customs-and-origins/port-and-starboard). Discover:
Explore by Theme. Greenwich, England, UK: Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved February 2, 2017 – via
RMG.co.uk.
3. Grape, Wolfgang (1994). The Bayeux Tapestry: Monument to a Norman Triumph (https://books.google.com/books?id
=AyQ4AQAAIAAJ). Art and Design Series. Munich, DEU: Prestel. p. 95.ISBN 978-3791313658. Retrieved
February 2, 2017.
4. Administration, US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric. "Unlike left and right, port and
starboard refer to fixed locations on a vessel"(https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/port-starboard.html).
oceanservice.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2017-10-12.
5. "port" (http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/148093). Oxford English Dictionary(3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
September 2005. (Subscription or UK public library membership (http://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required.)
6. Norie, John William; Hobbs, J. S. (1847) [1840].Sailing directions for the Bayof Biscay, including the coasts of
France and Spain, from Ushant toCape Finisterre (https://books.google.com/books?id=xREEAAAAQAAJ)("A new
ed., rev. and considerably improved" ed.). C. Wilson. p. 1.OCLC 41208722 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4120872
2). Retrieved 7 February 2010. "An order, recently issued by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, states, that
in order to prevent mistakes, which frequently occur from the similarity of the words starboard and larboard, in future,
the word port is to be substituted for larboard, in all Her Majesty's ships or vessels.
"
7. George Bancroft (February 18, 1846)."Port and Starboard: General Order, 18 February 1846" (https://www.history.n
avy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/g/general-orders/general-order-port-and-starboar
d.html). General Orders. Washington, DC: US Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) . Retrieved
February 2, 2017 – via History.Navy.mil.
 8. MCA Staff (2004) [1996]. The Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1996
(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/281965/ms n1781.pdf) (PDF).
Southampton, ENG: Crown Department of T ransport, Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) . Retrieved
2 February 2017.

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