who has the right of way at sea
International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea A commonly held misconception[according to whom?] concerning the rules of marine navigation is that by following specific rules, a vessel can gain certain rights of way over other vessels. No vessel ever has absolute "right of way" over other vessels. Rather, there can be a "give way" (burdened) vessel and a "stand on" (privileged) vessel, or there may be two give way vessels with no stand on vessel. A stand on vessel does not have an absolute right of way over any give way vessel, for if there is a risk of collision, a stand on vessel may still be obliged under Rule 2 and Rule 17 to give way so as to avoid it, if doing so will be effective and is practicable.[14][15] Two power-driven vessels approaching each other head to head, are both deemed to be "give way" and both are required to alter course so as to avoid colliding with the other. Neither vessel has "right of way".[16]
Port and starboard To understand which is which, when a person is facing the bow on a vessel or aircraft, that is, forward towards the direction the vehicle is heading when underway, the port side is the left-hand side and the starboard side is the right-hand side. However, port and starboard never change; they are unambiguous references that are not based on the relative directions of an observer, just like the cardinal directions of east and west don't change no matter the direction a person faces.[2][3]