Why port side

What are the origins of port and starboard? Most sailors were right-handed, so the steering oar was placed over or through the right side of the stern. As the size of boats grew, so did the steering oar, making it much easier to tie a boat up to a dock on the side opposite the oar. Thank you again! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Follow us. Posted in Maritime Knowledge. When looking from the bow to the stern, the port lies on the right side while the starboard side lies on the left side.

In nautical terms, the bow or fore lies at the forward of the ship, while the stern or aft is the rear portion. This definition of port and starboard ensures that these directions are unique irrespective of the position of the concerned party. The origin of these terms come from the old English usage for their respective purposes. In the times of early boats that were steered with the aid of a steering oar at the stern, the majority of sailors were right-handed. These steering oars functioned as the rudders of the craft and had to be expertly manoeuvred.

Hence, it was easier to have the steering oar on the right-hand side so that the sailor was facing forward comfortably. This led to the right half that he sat on being called the steerboard which was later corrupted into starboard. For smaller crafts and sailboats, this led to some difficulty in loading goods from this side of the vessel. So, boats would dock with their left-hand side against the port wharves. This led to the left side being called the larboard, based on the corruption of the old English term for loading.

However, it was common to confuse the terms larboard and starboard while sailing, as they sounded similar. Thus, larboard was later replaced by the term port. This also aided in other terminology, as it was the left-hand side that was moored to the port. The usage of these terms became common as English trading ships sailed to several countries during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries AD.

During the colonization era, these terms were broadly accepted by sailors in countries spanning from India to the United States. Eventually, with the formation of regulatory bodies to develop a uniform code for maritime terminology, the terms port and starboard were accepted due to their widespread usage. Port and starboard are the official directions for left and right on all vessels, and this convention was laid down in the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.

This navigational treaty ensured that stringent rules were followed during any manoeuvres to prevent collisions and untoward incidents. Also, considering that poor visibility could lead to difficulty in identifying the port and starboard sides of vessels, colour codes were assigned based on accepted convention. These are discussed in greater detail in the next section. Often, marine officers are trained extensively in becoming comfortable with using the terms port and starboard.

The reason for this is because difficult manoeuvres may require them to react spontaneously and issue directions. During such high-stressed environments, it is important that they continue to use conventional terms of navigation.

In addition, in the unfortunate event of an accident, and during subsequent court proceedings, if the captain or concerned officers are found guilty of using terms such as left or right to refer to their vessel or other vessels, and if found that this error led to the accident, they are then eligible to be held guilty for having caused sinking or damage to the vessel. Thus, it is essential and important that the right technical terms are used to describe the two halves of the vessel. These terms also become useful while passing messages between ships.

Since the steer-board was always on the right, the right-hand side of the vessel became known as the steer-board side.. Another version is that, in the olden days before the advent of maps, navigation was done by following the arrangement of stars in the sky..

The deck that was used to look at the stars and decide the sailing route was termed as starboard deck.. Because of this extended deck on the right side, only the other side of the ship could be brought towards the port and it was named as port-side.. Ships now dock starboard or port-side alongside.. The Port side has Red navigation lights , the Starboard side has Green navigation lights..

Ships also have white lights on the masthead and stern aft, rear which when combined with the red and green lights, makes it easier to identify the direction of the ship at night.. These lights are used to identify the direction and position of the ship at night and this is also used when there is a situation of Head-on, Crossing or Overtaking.. For example, if there are two vessels approaching each other head-on, each should alter course to starboard, so that they pass each other port-to-port unless otherwise communicated much like the rules of the road..

One of the most important innovations in the COLREGs was the recognition given to traffic separation schemes — Rule 10 gives guidance in determining safe speed, the risk of collision and the conduct of vessels operating in or near traffic separation schemes..