Port andstarboard arenautical terms forwatercraft andspacecraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing thebow (front).


Vessels with bilateralsymmetry have left and right halves which aremirror images of each other. One asymmetric feature is where access to a boat, ship, or aircraft is at the side; it is usually only on the port side (hence the name).
Side
editPort side and starboard side respectively refer to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow. The port and starboard sides of the vessel always refer to the same portion of the vessel's structure, and do not depend on the position of someone aboard the vessel.
The port side is the side to the left of an observer aboard the vessel andfacing thebow, towards the direction the vessel is heading whenunderway in the forward direction. The starboard side is to the right of such an observer.[1]
This convention allows orders and information to be communicated unambiguously, without needing to know which way any particular crew member is facing.[2][3]
Etymology
editThe termstarboard derives from theOld Englishsteorbord,steor meaning steer, andbord meaning side. Before ships hadrudders, they were steered with asteering oar on the right hand side of the ship, because more people areright-handed.[2] The "steer-board" etymology is shared by theGermanSteuerbord,Dutchstuurboord andSwedish /Danish /Norwegianstyrbord, which gave rise to theFrenchtribord,Italiantribordo,[a]Catalanestribord,Portugueseestibordo,Spanishestribor andEstoniantüürpoord.
Since the steering oar was on the right side of the boat, it would dock on the left side. In Old English, this side was known asbæcbord.[6] An Anglo-Saxon record of a voyage byOhthere of Hålogaland used the word "bæcbord" ("back-board") for the left side of a ship. With the steering rudder on the starboard side the man on the rudder had his back to the left side of ship. GermanBackbord, Dutchbakboord, Swedishbabord, Spanishbabor, Portuguese bombordo, Italianbabordo,[a] Frenchbâbord, and Estonianpakpoord, are allcognate.
From around 1300 it the termladde-borde was used, fromMiddle Englishladebord,lade meaning load, andbord meaning side.[3]Ladebord was changed tolarboard in the 1500s, possibly by association with starboard. This side was also calledport, since it was the docking side.[7] TheOxford English Dictionary cites this usage since 1543.[8]
Larboard sounds similar tostarboard and in 1844 theRoyal Navy ordered thatport be used instead.[9][10] The United States Navy followed suit in 1846.[11]Larboard continued to be used well into the 1850s bywhalers.[12] In chapter 12 ofLife on the Mississippi (1883) Mark Twain writeslarboard to refer to the left side of the ship (Mississippi River steamboat) in his days on the river – circa 1857–1861.[13] Lewis Carroll rhymedlarboard andstarboard in "Fit the Second" ofThe Hunting of the Snark (1876).[14]
Importance of standard terms
editThe navigational treaty convention, theInternational 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 theUS Coast Guard)[15]—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.[15]: 11–12 To set forth these navigational rules, the terms starboard and port are essential, and to aid inin situ decision-making, the two sides of each vessel are marked, dusk to dawn, bynavigation lights, the vessel's starboard side by green and its port side by red.[15]: 15 Aircraft are lit in the same way.
Other nautical uses
editPort and starboard are also commonly used when dividing crews; for example with a twowatch system the teams supplying the personnel are often named Port and Starboard. This may extend to entire crews, such as the forward-deployed crews of the Royal Navy’sGulf-based frigate,[16] orballistic missile submarines.
See also
edit- Anatomical terms of location, another example of terms of directionality that do not depend on the location of the observer for things that are bilaterally symmetrical
- Dexter and sinister, in heraldry
- Direction (disambiguation)
- Glossary of nautical terms (disambiguation)
- Handedness
- Laterality, preference in humans etc. for doing things with the left or right hand etc.
- Proper right and proper left, in images of people etc.
- Reflection symmetry
- Sinistral and dextral, chirality, in scientific contexts
- Terms of orientation
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."Why do ships use 'port' and 'starboard' instead of 'left' and 'right?'".oceanservice.noaa.gov. Retrieved9 March 2020.
- ^abNOS Staff (8 December 2014)."Why Do Ships use "Port" and "Starboard" Instead of "Left" and "Right?"".NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) Ocean Facts. Washington, DC:U.S. Department of Commerce,National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Retrieved2 February 2017 – via OceanService.NOAA.gov.
- ^abRMG Staff (2 February 2017)."Port and Starboard: Why do Sailors say 'Port' and 'Starboard', for "Left" and "Right?"".Discover: Explore by Theme.Greenwich, England, UK:Royal Museums Greenwich. Archived fromthe original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved2 February 2017 – via RMG.co.uk.
- ^Grape, Wolfgang (1994).The Bayeux Tapestry: Monument to a Norman Triumph. Art and Design Series. Munich, DEU: Prestel. p. 95.ISBN 978-3791313658. Retrieved2 February 2017.
- ^"tribórdo".Vocabolario online Treccani.
- ^"Etymology of "starboard" by etymonline".etymonline. Retrieved8 May 2025.
- ^Administration, US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric."Unlike left and right, port and starboard refer to fixed locations on a vessel".oceanservice.noaa.gov. Retrieved12 October 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^"port".Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.).Oxford University Press.(Subscription orparticipating institution membership required.)
- ^Admiralty Circular No. 2, November 22, 1844, cited inWestern Courier newspaper (Plymouth) December 11, 1844.
- ^Norie, John William; Hobbs, J. S. (1847) [1840].Sailing directions for the Bay of Biscay, including the coasts of France and Spain, from Ushant to Cape Finisterre (A new ed., rev. and considerably improved ed.). C. Wilson. p. 1.OCLC 41208722. Retrieved7 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.
- ^George Bancroft (18 February 1846)."Port and Starboard: General Order, 18 February 1846".General Orders. Washington, DC: US Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC). Retrieved2 February 2017 – via History.Navy.mil.
- ^Morton, Harry (1 January 1983).The Whale's Wake.University of Hawaii Press. p. 84.ISBN 9780824808303. Retrieved20 March 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^Twain, Mark (1883)."Life on the Mississippi » Chapter 12".The Literature Network.
... the steersman at the tiller obeys the order to 'hold her up to starboard;' or, 'let her fall off to larboard; term 'larboard' is never used at sea now, to signify the left hand; but was always used on the river in my time]
- ^Carroll, Lewis (1978). Gasson, Roy (ed.).The Illustrated Lewis Carroll. Jupiter Books. p. 231.
He was thoughtful and grave - but the orders he gave
Were enough to bewilder a crew.
When he cried "Steer to starboard, but keep her head larboard!"
What on earth was the helmsman to do? - ^abcMCA Staff (2004) [1996].The Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1996(PDF). Southampton, ENG: Crown Department of Transport, Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Retrieved2 February 2017.
- ^"Montrose's Starboard Crew back in the groove for Gulf mission".