Since port and starboard never under any circumstance change, they are unambiguous references that are free of a sailor’s direction, and, accordingly, sailors utilize these nautical terms rather than left and right to keep away from disarray. When looking forward, at the bow of a boat, port and starboard allude to the left and right sides, individually.

At the beginning of boating, before ships had rudders on their centerlines, boats were controlled utilizing a guiding paddle. Most mariners were right-handed, so the controlling paddle was set over or through the right half of the stern. Mariners started calling the right side the controlling side, which before long became “starboard” by joining two Old English words: stéor (signifying “steer”) and bord (signifying “the side of a boat”).

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. This side became known as larboard, or “the loading side.” Over time, larboard—too easily confused with starboard—was replaced with port. After all, this was the side that faced the port, allowing supplies to be ported aboard by porters.