In the city of Kolkata, or Calcutta, former capital of India, is the oldest and largest port in the country, the link between the port and the city is a story that began long ago, long before the British occupation, even though the city is more than a hundred miles off the coast of the sea.
However, it was during this stage that created a commission to manage all affairs of the Port, in 1870. Currently, it is the gateway to Eastern India and a principal factor for the trade of the vast hinterland of states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and other countries like Nepal and Bhutan have not landlocked.
The history of the port of Kolkata is an ongoing story of struggle and success, a saga of continuous development, overcoming all obstacles and now reaching an incomparable professionalism, has been selected as the best managed port in the entire India.
It has the most sophisticated port facilities with extensive storage facilities and various loads modern container terminal computer.
The port of Calcutta is on the left bank of river Hooghly, and its zone of influence extends from the mouth of the feeding channel to the Channel Jangipur Sandheads, including both banks of the Hooghly River to the 45.7 meters deep. Pilotage distance is calculated at 221 kms., Of which 148 kms. are in the river and 75 kms. At sea, while the Haldia terminal is 121 km consisting of 46 km of river and 75 km of sea.
As a river port with numerous sandbars, high tide is used to obtain the maximum draft navigation, and because of the tight bends of the river, can only enter the port of Calcutta ships of 172 meters. In contrast, in Haldia ships can enter up to 240 meters.
The port of Calcutta seemed very affected by the influence of tides in the river, which produced large waves making it difficult to stay on the ship, who were sheltering in the spring, the dam of Farakka helped to substantially reduce this problem.