Aft

Aft means at, in, or toward the stern, the rear of a vessel, as the directional opposite of forward. It names the general after region (“working aft,” “the aft accommodation”) rather than a relative bearing against a fixed point. On most modern merchant ships the engine room, accommodation block, and bridge sit aft. Aft differs from abaft: abaft always carries a reference object (“abaft the beam”), while aft alone points to the stern end. The aftermost structural limit is the after perpendicular at the rudder stock.