Originally Posted by
piper28
And of course, something to keep in mind, if they used left and right, they'd really need to specify "left of the ship". Your left might be the right side of the ship depending on which direction you're facing, but the port side is always the same side.
This is precisely why they use the terms Port, Starboard, Forward, and Aft. Being in the US navy, I am use to these terms, but i do understand the civilians not know how they are used or why. They use the same terms on aircraft too. (just to a lesser degree!).