A Singapore-flagged containership ran aground on the Hooghly River after striking an embankment near Diamond Harbour, approximately 50 km south of Kolkata. The incident, which occurred on Wednesday, was attributed to a steering gear failure combined with strong river currents.

The Hooghly, a distributary of the Ganges, is notoriously difficult to navigate owing to shifting sandbars, significant tidal variation, and currents that can exceed several knots. Pilotage is compulsory for large vessels transiting the roughly 232-kilometre channel from the Bay of Bengal to Kolkata, which is why Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Authority pilots were aboard the vessel at the time of the incident.

The 13,852 dwt Nawata Bhum, owned by Regional Container Lines (RCL), a Singapore-based intra-Asia carrier, was inbound to Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata from Port Klang, Malaysia. According to local reports, the vessel's steering gear jammed while the ship was attempting to recover from a turn, causing it to veer off course.

The bow of the vessel became lodged in the embankment near the Nurpur ferry ghat. A section of the riverbank and a small road sustained damage from the impact. No ferries were present at the location at the time, and no injuries were reported.

"It hit the riverbank close to the Nurpur ferry ghat. After realising that the steering was jammed, the ship's master alerted people on the bank by constantly blowing its horn. Fortunately, there were no ferries nearby, or they might have been crushed," an unnamed official told local media.

Pilots from the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Authority who were aboard Nawata Bhum notified the port immediately following the collision. The vessel remained aground for several hours before tugboats successfully pulled it free at approximately 22:30 local time, taking advantage of high tide.

Local media reported that the hull was undamaged and that the ship would be able to proceed to Kolkata under tow. Two tug vessels were said to remain on location as of Thursday morning local time.

This is not the first grounding incident on the Hooghly River. In August 2023, the boxship MTT Singapore ran aground near Garchumuk following a similar steering malfunction. Such incidents underscore the persistent navigational hazards of the river corridor, which serves as the sole maritime access route for one of India's oldest major ports.

Around 14:00 on August 12, 2026 (India time), the container vessel NAWATA BHUM (148 m in length) ran aground on the bank of the Hooghly River in the state of West Bengal, eastern India. The vessel was successfully refloated during high tide that evening, and no injuries have been reported. pic.twitter.com/aRCTcxcfyM — クレーン船.com (@crane1000com) August 13, 2026