It will be facing magnetic north ... ships need to know they are sailing in the right direction. A ship’s navigator uses a compass to check that they are still on course. Explorers also use ...

Primarily, the compass was used for geomancy for a long time before it was used for navigation Ancient Chinese alchemists realized that the magnetite ore would point towards a magnetic north ... many ...

But severe space weather can still tamper with magnetic equipment like compasses and the electrical grid. A solar storm may have pulled the ship's compass needle in the wrong direction ...