DIRECTION AND LOCATION

Just as there are specialized terms for describing the different parts of a ship, there are
also terms for describing direction and location. The front part of the ship is the bow, the rear
part is the stern. When you are standing in the middle of the ship, you are standing amidships.
Facing the bow, everything to your right is on the starboard side and everything to the left is
on the port side. Equipment and parts of the ship take the name of the side on which they are
located; for example, the port anchor, the starboard gangway.
A ship is divided by an imaginary line running full length down the middle. This
imaginary line is called the centerline. If you move from the center toward the hull of the
ship, you move outboard. If you are near the hull and move toward the centerline, you move
inboard. It is important that you use the correct term when you describe the location of an
object or a compartment.
As you walk toward the bow, you go forward. If you walk to the stern, you go aft. An
object hanging against the side, bow, or stern is over the side, bow, or stern. An object in the
water but not touching the ship is outboard of or off the ship (off the starboard side, off the
port bow, and so on). An object in front of a ship is ahead of it. An object to the rear is astern,
never “in the back of” or “behind”.
You do not „get in” a ship, you board a ship. You live and work on board a ship.
All ships must have supplies of fresh water and food for the people on board. Fuel and
other supplies are needed to operate the ship. These supplies are called stores. Once the stores
are taken aboard, they must be put in their proper place. They are stored or stowed, usually
below deck. All stores taken aboard must be stowed in the correct stowage compartment.

Complete the following sentences with the term “board” or a compound word containing
“board”:
1. The ship sails at noon, but we must ……… at 0800 hours.
2. The stores were taken ……… the ship last night.
3. When you go away from the center of a ship, you go ………
4. All sailors ……… the ship have been assigned cabins.
5. When you go toward the center of a ship, you go ………
6. The right side of the ship is the ………
7. A man fell ……… during a bad storm, but the sailors pulled him out of the water and back
……… the ship.
8. The fuel stowage is near the hull in an ……… compartment.