Port and starboard vessel's starboard side by green and its port side by red. Aircraft are lit in the same way. Port and starboard Port and starboard are nautical and aeronautical terms of orientation that deal unambiguously with the structure of vessels and aircraft. Their structures are largely bilaterally symmetrical, meaning they have mirror-image left and right halves if divided long-ways down the middle. One asymmetric feature is that on aircraft and ships where access is at the side, this access is usually only provided on the port side. To understand which is which, when a person is facing the bow on a
RMS Empress of Ireland of a manoeuvre to spin back to his previous heading to pass "Storstad" as originally intended on his starboard side, thereby avoiding what he saw as a time-wasting diversion from his preferred and fast route through the channel. When Captain Anderson of "Storstad" saw "Empress of Ireland" through the fog he thought, by seeing both "Empress of Ireland"s port and starboard lights during its manoeuvre, that "Empress of Ireland" was attempting to pass on the opposite side of "Storstad" than previously apparent, and turned his ship to starboard to avoid a collision. However, "Empress" turned to port to continue on