"Pierre-Henri Baras" top-posted rudely:

AFAIK it's mainly because landing approaches (both land & sea) include a
final left turn. If the islands were on the port side of the ship the LSO
would loose sight of the plane (blocked by the island) and the pilote would
loose sight of the deck for a second or two, and that's enough to have a
major screw-up.
Any other explanation??
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_________________________________________
Pierre-Henri BARAS

They should hang the damn obstacle wayyyyyy out on an arm-type thingie
like a cupola on a curved eyestalk. Major deckspace and safety
plusses. And where's the bimaran composite carrier, eh? Eh? Losers.

Genyav

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"Thomas W Ping" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Are there aviation-related reasons why the starboard side is favored
for the island, or is it a purely naval issue? If the latter, did the
practice come about because the first pioneering carriers were
arbitrarily drawn up that way and the configuration simply stuck as a
matter of tradition, or were there more significant reasons for the
convention?

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Thomas Winston Ping