How ships make their way in the dark

Today I'll answer a listener question about why ships seem to have so few lights on, on the exterior of the ship, when they are traveling at night.

There are two main reasons: preserving night vision for the crew on the bridge so they can see what's out there, as much as possible, in diminished visibility.

Also, ships have designated, legally mandated running lights in a specific configuration that allows other vessels to know what they are looking at when they see it coming.

Even with all the modern tech on board (GPS, ECDIS, radar, etc.) these simple, time-tested tools for ship navigation remain vital.