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Why Captain’s cabin is always on starboard side ?

There are many questions in shipping industry which seem to be mysteries of the ancient shipping times with as many theories floating. And one of these question is "Why Captain's cabin is always on Starboard side?" Here is what I have gathered during my sea career. Captain's cabin on the starboard side is a tradition that has been since many years but there has been some exceptions to it where captain's cabin is on port side. Leaving aside the exceptions, in old days, the starboard side was considered superior to port side in every sense, be it flag etiquettes or two watch system in old days where more experienced staff used to keep watch on starboard side, the starboard side was considered superior to port side. Captain being overall incharge of the ship was considered superior to all the crew onboard and was given superior side of the ship. porthole_opt

In modern days however it is not superiority that is considered for captain cabin to starboard side. Starboard side is give way side in ROR (Rule of the road) and captain is expected to see the traffic on starboard side of his ship just to be aware of the traffic situation where it is his ship's duty to take action. He can then also monitor if the officer on watch has taken the required action to avoid close quarter situation. Do you have any other theory o...

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Comments (42)

Comment.

Siva Chidhu June 16, 2016

hello sir, iam following all ur blogs, after sailing for so many years, i never thought why captai cabin in stbd side. very impressive explanations, i need more blogs from u sir. So that we can gain ur knoweldge & experience. your blogs are so nice & very easy to understand

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Rajeev Jassal June 16, 2016

Glad that you are liking it Siva. We are trying to post at least one blog a week. We are also working on with other masters and chief engineers to share their knowledge and you will have many more blogs in the near future. Keep reading.

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SHAN July 17, 2016

Very Informative Please share some info on final topping off Product/ crude cargo what are the key points to consider not to over load or over exceed the draft

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Francis Escobia July 16, 2016

hello sir. im a filipino seafarer and ive been following your blogs. i find yours very useful! i am very thankful that a great captain like you share your knowledge to the young and future generation of seafarers. more power!

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Rajeev Jassal July 18, 2016

Thanks for reading the blogs Francis. Please let me know if you have any question anytime or need any help..

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Francis Escobia July 20, 2016

i only got a suggestion sir if you could write an article about how new seafarers should start their seafaring career (mindset, goals, etc) especially these days that we are exposed with so many requirements, laws, compliance, which are to be strictly followed and shipping industry is shifting into faster pace every year. New generation of seafarers in the industry might not be able to keep up with this pace and might give up seafaring career at the early stage.

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Francis Escobia July 20, 2016

i hope it also contain information on time management. With the improvement and technologically-advanced industry that we have, new guys tend to be over-reliant to this technology and forget the basics ( im guilty on this ). Thank you sir. Have a great day

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Rajeev Jassal July 20, 2016

This is a good topic to write about Francis and I will write on that. But you are undermining the potential of our young seafarers. I must say that due to changing circumstances we as seniors, trainers and the companies have not been able to guide/train them properly. This website is an initiative to fill that gap. I will definitely write on the topic you suggested.

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Fu Tang January 18, 2017

Hi captain, I'm a Chinese third mate, found your blog when searching 'update AVCS with JRC901B ECDIS' and i kept reading other blogs, i like those researches on things we took for granted and professional knowledge-to-plain words transfer style narrative is very easy to absorb, big fan now~

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Preet Singh August 5, 2017

Apart from the RoR aspect, another explanation would be that by general convention on ships, things on the starboard side are odd numbered and those on port side are even numbered. For e.g., starboard lifeboat is always no.1, and the port one is no. 2, on container ships the rows are numbered 1,3,5 on the starboard side and 2,4,6 on port side, etc. Similarly, the Master being rank no.1 (highest) on the ship, it's fitting that his cabin too be on the starboard side of the ship.

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Eric Joseh C. Ebreo December 5, 2017

when i was starting my seafarer career. someone told me that captains cabin is in stbd side because he is always right.

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Umoren Anietie Samuel December 24, 2017

Nice. N insightful. Pls can u drop more light on key types of documents a third mate is supposed to prepare before n after leaving port. Thanks captain

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CHEMUTAH ABONGNWI CHE March 7, 2018

Hello Captain.How can you become a good Captain?

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CHEMUTAH ABONGNWI CHE March 7, 2018

Dear Captain.how many types of Navigations really exist?thanks and remain blessed

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Thu Rein Soe April 10, 2018

I am new 3rd officer from Burma. Could you tell me the differences between Resolution and Recommendations.

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ABHISHEK RANJAN April 13, 2018

Good day sir, my doubt is why the rescue boat on most of the ships I've seen so far is on the starboard side? thanks

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Oktolinus Simbong April 28, 2018

As we know that Captain is the highest responsible holder on board vessel (even while getting rest inside the cabin). so in my opinion why Captains cabin ussualy at starboard side is to allow him to do cursory observation in regard to vessels which is closed at his starboard side relate to COLREG rule 15.

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Risso May 30, 2018

Once i asked to one captain about this, and he replied "because the Chieff Engineer's cabin is on port side"

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Rajesh October 5, 2018

Hi Sir! It is nice to learn many things from your blogs. Can we have few learnings regarding Manning of vessels like vessels SMD, SEAFARERS MANDATORY courses, etc. It would be good please

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N.S.M. Rao October 30, 2018

Well said Capt.

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Mohan muthu April 3, 2019

Dear sir, Can you please explain how to go about ODME failure and hiw to go about decanting with inoperative ODMCS.

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Vanashri August 1, 2019

Well said Sir, You are really doing great job by sharing your knowledge with fellow seafarers. My heartfelt thanks on that. Also sir can you enlighten also as to why the stbd side anchor has more shackles than port side? Thanks in advance..

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Nelson September 14, 2019

Dear sir, can we make a masters review on sms even if there is still another pending? It means that the company has not yet acted upon previous masters review. Thank you

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Roshan D Raj November 24, 2019

Simple ways for byheart days work method

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TungWing Chow December 25, 2019

It is basically due to the Capt is always "Right"

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Sanjiv Verma February 9, 2020

Another interesting explanation to why that side of the ship is called " Starboard " . Well in the days of sailing ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean from England to America, they would try and keep the ship on 50 degrees latitude ( parallel sailing) throughout. For this the star Polaris had to be kept abeam and at 50 degrees altitude from the horizon. The navigator would stand on a board fixed on the gunwale on that side to observe the pole star ( Polaris) and thus the name STARBOARD!

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Manikandan September 9, 2020

Hello sir, I have a doubt far so many days can u plz tell me exactly why steering degrees of 30-35degrees in 28seconds why not 35-35 or 30-30 why it's 35-30 in 28 what is the exact reason behind it sir

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Sher Singh August 26, 2022

because after 30deg hunting lever become sluggish and does not give accurate value w,r.t time

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Jakob Krogh January 4, 2021

Hey captain. I have a guess, which dates back to the viking era, when they used to use the stars for navigation the captain would always be facing the stars and maybe the tradition just carried on from there? Again its just a guess, and thanks for the insightful blogs. Have a good day where ever you are.

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Sir pls answer my question why emergency generator onboard is on stbd side

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Robert Ross September 30, 2023

I have alternative explanations for why the starboard side is called the starboard side and how that relates to both COLREGS Rule 15 and the location of the Captain\'s cabin. In the early days of sailing vessels rudders were not hung on the centerline. Rather, the \"steering board\" was usually suspended off the right side of the vessel. This gave the helmsman better visibility to the right side which also gave him the better ability to avoid a collision if another vessel was approaching from that side. The helmsman of the other vessel might not even be able to see to the left side of his vessel due to the sail or some other visual obstruction. \"Steering board\" gave us the term \"starboard\" while also establishing what is still the fundamental principle in the COLREGS: namely that the vessel which is better able to maneuver to avoid a collision is the vessel which has the primary responsibility to do so. If two vessels have the same ability to maneuver, then the deciding factor is which vessel has the other to the starboard side. Given that visibility from modern vessels, as well as their maneuverability is almost always the same from starboard to port, the \"burdened to starboard\" rule might seem arbitrary but it is really carried down from the early days of sailing vessels. Finally, the Captain\'s cabin is to the starboard side so that he can look out the window to check up on the deck watch officer. At any rate, that\'s my story and I am sticking to it.

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About Capt Rajeev Jassal

Capt. Rajeev Jassal has sailed for over 24 years mainly on crude oil, product and chemical tankers. He holds MBA in shipping & Logistics degree from London. He has done extensive research on quantitatively measuring Safety culture onboard and safety climate ashore which he believes is the most important element for safer shipping.