PORT Elizabeth harbour master and acting port manager Neil Chetty has been appointed as the Port of Ngqura harbour master and acting port manager.

Transnet announced yesterday that Cape Town Harbour senior finance manager Rajesh Dana would replace Chetty, effective from Monday.

Chetty moved to the city in 2005 from Durban, where he was deputy harbour master.

He drew ire from tourism authorities earlier this year when it was revealed he had personally denied the MV Doulos – the world’s oldest passenger ship – the chance to berth in Port Elizabeth for the next five years.

He wrote in a letter to the ship’s managers it “would not be in line with the port’s long-term development plan which includes a revamp of old infrastructure”.

Tourism officials – including some within the city’s tourism body – criticised him for the action, saying that having the ship, operated by a German Christian charity, would have brought publicity and exposure for the city worth millions of rands.

The harbour also drew criticism when it tightened security last year, in the process turning away many would-be clients because of “overly-stringent security measures”, businesses within the harbour complained.

Chetty said: “I would like to grow the Port of Ngqura into a world-class port and to assist in creating more job opportunities for the Eastern Cape community. ”

But he failed to respond to questions from The Herald on how exactly he planned to grow the port’s business.