Night Navigation Comes to Calcutta Port
Calcutta Port launches night navigation system with over 100 lights along the Hooghly, allowing ships to sail safely into the city even during high tide and darkness—boosting trade, efficiency, and maritime confidence
In a move that’s been a long time coming, the Calcutta Port has finally flicked the switch on a brand-new night navigation system, allowing ships to sail into the city under the cover of darkness, even during high tide. No more waiting for the cock to crow or the fog to lift!
In a rather spiffing bit of engineering wizardry, more than 100 lights have been strung along the river and its banks from Diamond Harbour to Calcutta—roughly 60km of the Hooghly’s notoriously twisty course—like fairy lights at a particularly nautical Durga Puja.
The inaugural run took place in the wee hours of Saturday, as the container vessel MV SinarPenida, measuring a tidy 117 metres with a 6-metre draft and 8,000 tonnes of cargo, made its way from Budge Budge to the sea. All this happened in pitch darkness, mind you, and not a lighthouse in sight beyond the ones the port had kindly arranged.
“Hooghly between Diamond Harbour and Calcutta has many sharp bends and the depth of the riverbed shifts frequently, from the right to the left bank.” said a senior port official with the kind of understatement only a Bengali babu can muster. “This poses a serious hazard for pilots who navigate the vessels from Sandheads to the port,”
Now, thanks to this rather illuminating initiative, pilots no longer have to depend solely on their nerves of steel and caffeine. The lights include everything from transit marks to buoyed channels, guiding ships through deep waters and away from treacherous sandbanks, like a riverine version of airport runway lights.
And thank heavens for that, because apparently the high-tech navigational aids don’t always work thanks to the odd hiccup in network coverage. Think Google Maps meets rural India—one minute you’re floating serenely, the next you’re doing doughnuts near Panchpara.
Speaking of which, Panchpara remains one of the river’s hairiest bends, a place where the Hooghly decides to channel its inner Tollywood villain and change direction dramatically. It’s like the river’s got commitment issues.
The chairman of Calcutta Port, Rathendra Raman, was understandably chuffed. “This is a glowing example—quite literally—of technology enhancing operational efficiency. It will shave valuable time off vessel turnaround and give our trade throughput a proper leg up,” he said, sounding every bit the proud parent at a science fair.
Historically, getting a ship from the sea to the Calcutta docks has been like persuading a cat into a bath—possible, but not without considerable resistance and the odd scratch. The 232-km journey, beset with shifting depths and cross-tidal currents strong enough to send your tea flying, has long been a nightmare for ship captains.
But with a little help from the National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts at IIT Madras and a collaboration with the Port of Antwerp, the port has not only cracked the code but practically rewritten the rulebook.
As per Sanjoy Kumar Mukherjee, senior PRO at the port, a grand total of 3,157 ships were handled in 2024–25. And now, with vessels no longer limited to daylight dawdles with the night navigation system, that number’s expected to shoot up like a Bengali’s blood pressure during an India-Pakistan cricket match.
In the end, it’s lights on, anchors aweigh, and no more excuses for missing deadlines—unless, of course, you run into a wayward goat on the banks. It is Bengal, after all.
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