diff --git a/common/utils/UtilsTest.cpp b/common/utils/UtilsTest.cpp
index 93ba2067671c20a7d0439a541921e45063c852f1..14af7ec6894a3dd1b041cc15694bfa8dd2c4eee4 100644
--- a/common/utils/UtilsTest.cpp
+++ b/common/utils/UtilsTest.cpp
@@ -659,4 +659,13 @@ TEST_F(cta_UtilsTest, ellipses) {
   ASSERT_EQ("[...]0ABCDEF", preEllipsis("1234567890ABCDEF", 12));
 }
 
+TEST_F(cta_UtilsTest, DISABLED_currentTime) {
+  /* This test is disabled as it prints our similar, yet slightly different dates, 
+   * so it would be complex to automate.
+   * Just run with: "cta-unitTests --gtest_filter=*currentTime --gtest_also_run_disabled_tests" */
+  using namespace cta::utils;
+  ::system("date \"+%h %e %H:%M:%S.%N\" ");
+  std::cout << getCurrentLocalTime() << std::endl;
+}
+
 } // namespace unitTests
diff --git a/common/utils/utils.cpp b/common/utils/utils.cpp
index 95631e14475e03ca86a1eb2a46c4c5c6d2306a0b..6e74c4ac494ea6bc2da8751c1717e49840d56677 100644
--- a/common/utils/utils.cpp
+++ b/common/utils/utils.cpp
@@ -780,5 +780,22 @@ void copyString(char *const dst, const size_t dstSize, const std::string &src) {
   *(dst + dstSize -1) = '\0'; // Ensure destination string is null terminated
 }
 
+//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// getCurrentLocalTime
+//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+std::string getCurrentLocalTime() {
+  ::timeval tv;
+  gettimeofday(&tv, nullptr);
+  time_t now = (time_t)tv.tv_sec;
+  struct tm * localNow;
+  ::time(&now);
+  localNow = ::localtime(&now);
+  char buff[80];
+  char buff2[10];
+  ::strftime(buff,sizeof(buff), "%b %e %H:%M:%S.", localNow);
+  ::snprintf(buff2, sizeof(buff2), "%06ld", tv.tv_usec);
+  return std::string(buff) + std::string(buff2);
+}
+
 } // namespace utils
 } // namespace cta
diff --git a/common/utils/utils.hpp b/common/utils/utils.hpp
index 37856789e7a471d8e1f3293ee4f3ff0b0bad59ec..c0334f867bbd94a8b59336db429764a0078c7454 100644
--- a/common/utils/utils.hpp
+++ b/common/utils/utils.hpp
@@ -364,6 +364,12 @@ namespace utils {
     const std::string &src) {
     copyString(dst, dstSize, src);
   }
+  
+  /**
+   * Returns the current time, in the local time zone, formated for logging.
+   * @return the foramtted time.
+   */
+  std::string getCurrentLocalTime();
 
 } // namespace utils