New Coast Guard Unified Command Representative Appointed

Published Nov 15, 2007 12:01 AM by The Maritime Executive

SAN FRANCISCO: Rear Admiral Craig Bone, Commander of the 11th Coast Guard District, has appointed Capt. Paul Gugg to represent the U. S. Coast Guard on the Unified Command responding to the Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco Bay. Capt. Gugg, who is the head of the Coast Guard's Pacific Area Prevention Division, will replace Capt. William Uberti.

“Considering the magnitude of this response operation, the level of public interest, and problems I have identified related to the initial spill response communications and coordination, I have assigned Capt. Gugg to the Unified Command," said Bone. "Capt. Gugg will ensure seamless, continued cleanup operations of the ongoing response along with our partners on the Unified Command," he said.

Uberti will return to his regular duties as commander of Coast Guard Sector San Francisco.
The Unified Command, part of an established national response organization for oil spill response, is made up of three members: The Federal Government, represented by the U.S. Coast Guard; the State, represented by the California Dept. of Fish and Game; and the Responsible Party, represented by Regal Stone Limited/Fleet Management Europe Ltd.

Gugg will join Steve Edinger, from the California Department Fish and Game, and responsible party representative Barry McFarland, to continue directing the work of over 40 agencies, and hundreds of contractors and volunteers working to recover some 58,000 gallons of oil lost after the Nov. 7 incident.

• Captain PAUL M. GUGG Biography

Captain Gugg entered the Coast Guard after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree from Syracuse. He graduated from Coast Guard Officer Candidate School in Yorktown, Virginia in December, 1983. His Marine Safety career began with an assignment to Marine Safety Office Port Arthur, Texas, where his duties involved port operations work, commercial vessel inspections, and casualty investigations. During this assignment he also participated in the Operational Training program with Texaco Marine Services which was at that time headquartered in Port Arthur. He was next assigned to Marine Safety Office Honolulu, Hawaii in 1988. In addition to the difficult task of examining charter boats and cruise ships on Oahu and the outer Hawaiian Islands, he inspected U.S. registered vessels and mobile offshore drilling units throughout India, Indonesia, Japan and other countries of the Far East. He was then assigned to Duty Under Instruction at the University of Michigan where he received his Master's degree in Natural Resources Policy in 1992. His follow-on assignment was to Coast Guard Headquarters (G-MEP/MOR) in Washington, DC where he worked on OPA-90 oil spill response plan regulations, reviewed tank ship response plans, and developed Commandant policy for Coast Guard contingency preparedness. In 1997, he was assigned to the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage in Arlington, Virginia for Marine Environmental Protection Industry Training. He reported aboard as Executive Officer of the Gulf Strike Team in Mobile, Alabama in July of 1997 and assumed command of that specialized oil and hazardous material response unit in 1999. He was assigned as the Coast Guard Liaison to Military Sealift Command in Washington, DC in 2000. There he coordinated inspection, manning, force protection and regulatory compliance issues for the U.S. Navy's 120 sealift, surveillance, pre-positioned and fleet auxiliary vessels. He served as the Commanding Officer of Marine Safety Office, Buffalo from 2002 until 2005 then reported to Alameda, California in July of 2005 as Chief of Pacific Area Marine Safety and Environmental Protection.

Editor’s Note: The Coast Guard has taken some heat for what some perceive to be a less than speedy response to the spill. The change of command was not characterized in the news release as being a function of that criticism, however. As the Coast Guard responds to the spill, it is also reviewing its own performance. The National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. attorney's office are investigating the spill, and its causes.