A maverick man of the sea who set up India’s first floating hotel on the Hooghly riverfront passed away in Calcutta on July 13.

Manab Pal, creator of Floatel, one of the landmarks of the city, breathed his last at his Ballygunge home. He was 84.

Pal represented a dying breed of Bengali entrepreneurs who were driven by passion much more than they were by profit, said friends and family members.

“My father came from the world of shipping. Being a man of the sea, he knew many things. Which part of the Hooghly is most treacherous, which road in London Jack the Ripper walked on.... This is a very Bengali kind of knowledge.... Knowledge before money is a very specific kind of Bengali skill,” said his son Anuvab Pal, screenwriter, author and comedian.

Pal was born in Calcutta in 1939. An alumnus of St Xavier’s College in Calcutta and London School of Economics, Pal specialised in transportation economics and naval architecture. He worked with the Shipping Corporation of India, had a stint in the oil exploration industry and even bought two ships before entering hospitality.

His dream of setting up a floating hotel on the Hooghly took him to places like Prague, Amsterdam, Germany and Ho Chi Minh City to see the architecture and design first-hand.

“He was not the son of a rich businessman or any of that. But to have that interest, to go off and do those things is such a Bengali eccentricity,” said Anuvab.

Pal approached Jyoti Basu, the then chief minister of Bengal, who showed interest in his dream project. Floatel finally opened its doors in November 2006. The barge had its frame built in Singapore. The finer modifications were done here in Calcutta.

Floatel was sold to the Hotel Polo Towers Group in 2018. For guests, it is still much-loved and the sunrise and sunset views are to die for.

Parliamentarian Mahua Moitra, Anuvab’s friend, called Pal “one of a kind”.

“Towards the end, uncle couldn’t see. I saw him at his last big birthday party. He was the life and soul of his birthday party. It was incredible. He couldn’t see but if you saw him, he was always impeccably dressed, with a drink in his hand, he was enjoying the music, saying hello to everyone. It was just wonderful to see the joie de vivre,” she said.

Veteran actor Barun Chanda, fellow Xaverian, remembered his long-time friend Pal as “essentially a mariner, who loved the sea”.

“I can’t believe he is gone. We were due to meet soon,” Chanda said.

Pal’s wife of 49 years, Subha, said “there was never a dull moment with him”.

“Before our marriage, he told me that he did not have a typical 10am to 5pm job. He urged me to keep myself occupied with my vocation for a compatible marriage,” said Subha who, at 75, still directs Tagore’s dance dramas on stage.