Jim Elliott is Chief Operating Officer of the Teichman Group of Companies, including T&T Salvage and T&T Subsea. He is responsible for managing worldwide marine salvage, heavy lift, commercial diving and emergency response operations while simultaneously managing multiple companies. With three decades of leadership experience in maritime operations, he has served as a senior Coast Guard Officer, Incident Commander, Salvage Master, Commercial Diver and Project Manager on salvage and oil spill response operations from the Equator to the Arctic.
In addition to attaining the nation’s highest Incident Commander certification, he is also qualified as a Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator, Commanding Officer/Captain of the Port, National Strike Force Response Officer, and Type 1 Planning and Operations Section Chief. His professional certifications include Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), Texas Emergency Manager (TEM), Certified Environmental Professional (CEP), Certified Environmental, Safety and Health Trainer (CET), Certified Hazardous Material Manager (CHMM), and Registered Environmental Professional (REM). He is also certified to teach all Incident Command System (ICS), HAZWOPER, WMD Operations, and International Maritime Organization Oil Spill Response courses. As a Type-1 Incident Commander on Coast Guard Incident Management Teams and the National Strike Force, he responded to many of the nation’s largest response operations, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks; Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ivan, Harvey and Ike; and the Deepwater Horizon response, plus hundreds of major oil spills and marine casualty incidents. As a salvage industry executive, he has worked on every continent and has been sought out to present and consult on marine casualty response best practices worldwide.
Jim holds a Bachelor of Science in Environment Management with distinction, a Master of Environmental Policy with honors, Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies with highest distinction from the U.S. Naval War College and an MBA with merit from the University of London. Additionally, he has earned over 75 Coast Guard, State and industry awards and medals, including selection into the Coast Guard’s Leadership Hall of Fame and the ADCI Commercial Diving Hall of Fame. Jim is also the immediate Past President of the American Salvage Association.