Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by dceddia on Tuesday April 18, 2023 @07:01PM (#35621679)

Hmm interesting. Wonder if they have some non-symmetrical parts, like the location of the engine maybe?

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Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by toast0 on Tuesday April 18, 2023 @07:13PM (#35621811)

Sure. If nothing else, they've got labels on 'end 1' and 'end 2', and the rest of the boat is labeled into quadrants that don't change (A-D). If there's a galley, that's on one end or the other; the passenger deck is assymmetric.

The car decks and the sundeck appear to be mostly symmetric other than labelling, and maybe elevator placement? The machinery under the car decks is likely somewhat assymetric too, but I've never gotten to go down below.

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Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by taeric on Tuesday April 18, 2023 @07:06PM (#35621730)

Not the ones I ride. They have engines on each end.

To be fair, they may not be 100% symmetrical. I am not measuring. They are close enough that I can't imagine it would be a good use of the terms. (That is, when the VAST majority of the time the bow is the front of the boat, having a few bigger boats where I have to inspect it to know which is bow and stern would be a bad idea.)

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