On the Port Quarter

In a direction abaft the port beam, towards the vessel’s left rear sector when facing forward.

The port quarter is the area between directly abeam on the port side and directly astern. An object reported “on the port quarter” is therefore behind the vessel’s port beam but not necessarily close to the stern.

It is a relative direction based on the vessel’s heading, not a compass bearing. When precision matters, the report can be supplemented with an estimated relative bearing, distance or description of the object.