(Houston) GOMaximo is pleased to announce the selection of our keynote speaker for our 2022 conference.

Captain Bill Diehl, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.), is President of the Greater Houston Port Bureau, a maritime trade organization of 230 companies.

Before coming to the Port Bureau, Bill served 27 years in the Coast Guard in a variety of challenging jobs including serving as a diplomatic liaison officer to the Panama Canal. His last assignment was command of the largest operational unit in the Coast Guard: Sector Houston-Galveston. In this role, he led 2,600 personnel in the highly successful response to Hurricane Ike in 2008. The response included saving 235 lives, cleaning up 240 oil spills, and the largest waterway restoration effort in the history of the Coast Guard.

Bill came to the Port Bureau in 2009. The Port Bureau supplies its companies with detailed vessel traffic information and maritime expertise in safety, security, and environmental issues and has been instrumental in representing members in front of state and federal legislators.

A 1982 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, he later obtained a Master’s Degree from the University of Michigan in Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Virginia.