Port and starboard
Short answer: Port is the left side of a boat and starboard is the right side when you face the bow. The names belong to the boat, so they stay the same when you turn around. At night the port sidelight is red, the starboard one green.
Pick a part on the drawing, or a name in the list, to see what it is.
Which part is marked in red?
Directions on a boat, plan view Drawn to scale Checked
The 11 parts on this drawing
- Forward
Forward, or fore, means toward the bow.
Also called fore
- Bow
The bow is the front, or forward end, of a boat.
Also called front
- Port side
Port is the left side of the boat when you face the bow.
Also called port
- Sidelights
Sidelights are the navigation lights on each side of the bow: red on the port side, green on the starboard side.
Also called navigation lights, running lights
- Abeam
Abeam means at right angles to the boat’s centerline, straight out from its side.
Also called on the beam
- Amidships
Amidships is the middle of the boat, halfway between bow and stern.
Also called midships
- Centerline
The centerline is the line running fore and aft down the middle of the boat.
Also called centreline
- Starboard side
Starboard is the right side of the boat when you face the bow.
Also called starboard
- Sternlight
A sternlight is a white light at the stern that shows aft over an arc of 135 degrees.
Also called stern light
- Aft
Aft means toward the stern.
Also called after
- Stern
The stern is the back, or aft end, of a boat.
Also called back
Terms often confused
Port / starboardLeft / right
Left and right change with the way you face; port and starboard refer to fixed sides of the vessel.
ForwardAft
Forward points toward the bow and aft toward the stern, in the same way whichever way you face.
Port and starboard in more detail
Port is the left side of a boat for someone facing the bow, and starboard is the right. The plan view draws the boat from above with the bow pointing right, which puts port at the top of the drawing and starboard at the bottom.
Why the words stay put
Left and right depend on which way you face. Port and starboard refer to fixed locations on the vessel, so they mean the same thing to a person at the helm looking forward and a person on the swim platform looking aft. Two people in different parts of the boat can name a side without first agreeing which way they are facing.
Where the names come from
Both words are older than the lights. Starboard joins two Old English words, stéor (steer) and bord (the side of a boat), from the steering oar that early ships carried over the right side of the stern. With the steering oar over the right side, boats tied up to the dock on their left side, which became the loading side. That side was once larboard, and it became port because larboard sounded too much like starboard. The Royal Navy ordered port used in place of larboard in 1844, and the U.S. Navy did the same in 1846.
The colors at night
The side names carry over into navigation lights. The sidelight on the port side is red and the one on the starboard side is green. Each covers its own side from dead ahead to just behind the beam, and a white sternlight covers the arc behind; the drawing shades all three arcs.
The colors also work from outside the boat. Seen from another boat at night, a red light alone shows you its port side and a green light alone its starboard side.
Other direction words
The drawing also marks forward and aft, amidships and abeam. They follow the same rule as port and starboard: amidships is always the middle of the boat, wherever you stand when you say it.
Common questions
How do you remember port and starboard?
Port and left have the same number of letters, which makes a handy memory aid. Aboard at night the lights help too: the port sidelight is red.
Why is it called starboard?
Starboard comes from the Old English stéor (steer) and bord (side of a boat): early ships were steered with an oar over the right side of the stern.
Why is the left side called port?
The left side is called port because, with the steering oar over the right side, boats tied up to the dock on their left, which became the loading side. It was once larboard; navies replaced it with port in the 1840s because it sounded too much like starboard.
What color is the starboard light?
The starboard light is green. The sidelight on the starboard side is green and the one on the port side is red, each showing over 112.5 degrees of the horizon.
Do airplanes use port and starboard?
Aircraft use port and starboard too, for their left and right sides, and the International Space Station names its truss segments the same way.
Print and practice
All worksheets- Directions on a boat Labeled sheet Blank sheet to fill in
