Opportunity

DAERA - AFBI - Appointment of a Shipyard for the Construction of a Research Vessel

  • The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute

F02: Contract notice

Notice reference: 2022/S 000-007194

Published 16 March 2022, 2:24pm



Section one: Contracting authority

one.1) Name and addresses

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute

18a Newforge Lane

BELFAST

BT9 5PX

Contact

CPD SSD Admin

Email

ssdadmin.cpd@finance-ni.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code

UK - United Kingdom

Internet address(es)

Main address

https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps

Buyer's address

https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps

one.2) Information about joint procurement

The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body

one.3) Communication

Access to the procurement documents is restricted. Further information can be obtained at

https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps

Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address

Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via

https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps

Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the above-mentioned address

Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible, free of charge, at

https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps

one.4) Type of the contracting authority

Body governed by public law

one.5) Main activity

General public services


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

DAERA - AFBI - Appointment of a Shipyard for the Construction of a Research Vessel

Reference number

ID4158757

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 34513550 - Survey vessels

two.1.3) Type of contract

Supplies

two.1.4) Short description

AFBI wishes to engage a shipyard for the construction of a new Research Vessel which is specifically tailored to meet AFBI’s marine fisheries science requirements and be capable of technological update over a service life of 30 years minimum.

two.1.5) Estimated total value

Value excluding VAT: £22,000,000

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

two.2) Description

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 35513200 - Auxiliary research vessel
  • 63726800 - Research vessel services
  • 34500000 - Ships and boats
  • 34510000 - Ships
  • 34512000 - Ships and similar vessels for the transport of persons or goods
  • 34513100 - Fishing vessels
  • 34513000 - Fishing, emergency and other special vessels
  • 63726700 - Fishing-vessel services
  • 98360000 - Marine services

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UKN0 - Northern Ireland

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

AFBI wishes to engage a shipyard for the construction of a new Research Vessel which is specifically tailored to meet AFBI’s marine fisheries science requirements and be capable of technological update over a service life of 30 years minimum.

two.2.5) Award criteria

Quality criterion - Name: Qualitative Criteria / Weighting: 40

Cost criterion - Name: Quantitative Criteria / Weighting: 60

two.2.6) Estimated value

Value excluding VAT: £22,000,000

two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system

Duration in months

30

This contract is subject to renewal

No

two.2.10) Information about variants

Variants will be accepted: No

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: No

two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds

The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No

two.2.14) Additional information

AFBI wishes to engage a suitably qualified and experienced Shipyard to build, construct, outfit, test and deliver a research vessel (approx. 50-55m length). . . The vessel will be designed and built to meet the requirement of the ICES cooperative research report no. 209 in terms of vessel underwater radiated noise. The vessel is to be a multipurpose Research Vessel to meet the survey requirements of AFBI including (but not limited to) offshore fisheries surveys (demersal and pelagic trawling and acoustic surveys), oceanographic surveys, hydrographic surveys and underwater TV surveys as well as acting as an ROV platform.. . AFBI expect that the vessel must be constructed to Lloyds Class notation as a minimum: 100A1, UMS, DP-AM, however AFBI reserve the right to request the construction of the vessel to meet a classification within the list of IACS membership, following the award of contract.. . The Norwegian ship design company Skipsteknisk A/S ("ST"), based in Ålesund, Norway has been engaged to produce a design for the vessel under a separate contract with the AFBI. . . In addition, ST will produce design documentation (which shall consist of basic and detailed design documentation) for issue to the successful contractor. This design documentation will be based upon the specific technical equipment proposed by the successful contractor and will be made available to the successful contractor in accordance with an agreed schedule.


Section three. Legal, economic, financial and technical information

three.1) Conditions for participation

three.1.1) Suitability to pursue the professional activity, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

List and brief description of conditions

Ability to construct a vessel and accredited to a classification society that is a member of the International Association of Classification Societies or Lloyds Classification Society.

three.1.2) Economic and financial standing

Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents

three.1.3) Technical and professional ability

Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents

three.2) Conditions related to the contract

three.2.3) Information about staff responsible for the performance of the contract

Obligation to indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff assigned to performing the contract


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

four.1.1) Type of procedure

Competitive procedure with negotiation

Accelerated procedure

Justification:

A competitive procedure with negotiation has been chosen for this contract requirement, as the specification is well developed. The procedure enables AFBI and Tenderers to negotiate pricing and the contract terms and conditions appropriate for a complex research vessel construction.

four.1.5) Information about negotiation

The contracting authority reserves the right to award the contract on the basis of the initial tenders without conducting negotiations

four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

four.2) Administrative information

four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

Date

21 April 2022

Local time

3:00pm

four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted

English

four.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender

Tender must be valid until: 18 October 2022


Section six. Complementary information

six.1) Information about recurrence

This is a recurrent procurement: No

six.2) Information about electronic workflows

Electronic ordering will be used

Electronic invoicing will be accepted

Electronic payment will be used

six.3) Additional information

The Contracting Authority reserves the right: to hold additional rounds of negotiations with Economic Operators; to require the. submission of any further or additional information or tender submissions; to award the Contract following the submission of initial tenders; to award the Contract following conclusion of the first round of negotiation sessions; and/or to down-select Economic Operators following each round of negotiations. For the avoidance of doubt, final tenders will not be subject to any negotiation with the Contracting Authority (however, they may be subject to clarification, if required, at the Contracting Authority's absolute discretion). The Contracting Authority reserves the right: to reject any or all SQ or tender responses and to cancel or withdraw the procurement process at any stage; to award a contract without prior notice; to change the basis of, the procedure and the timescales set out or referred to in the. procurement documents; to require an Economic Operator to clarify its SQ or tender response in writing and/or provide additional information; to terminate the procurement process; and/or to amend the terms and conditions of the SQ or tender evaluation process or negotiation process. The Contracting Authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender. Economic Operators remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third party acting under instructions from the Economic Operator in connection with taking part in this procurement process, regardless of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the Contracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise (and an Economic Operator shall have no legitimate expectation that a contract will be entered into) until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the Contracting Authority. Economic Operators should note that all dates, time periods and figures in relation to values and volumes specified in this notice and the procurement documents are approximate. only and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to change any or all of them. The figure indicated in II.1.5. represents an estimated contract value £22m and may increase during the life of the contract to accommodate changes, continuous improvements and advancements in technology. Any increases/modifications will be managed in accordance with the relevant public procurement regulations. The pricing strategy applied and the setting of cost/profit margins are a commercial decision for Economic Operators when submitting a bid for this competition. In addition, neither CPD nor the Contracting Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The successful contractor's performance. on the contract will be regularly monitored. Contractors not delivering on contract requirements is a serious matter. It means the public purse is not getting what it is paying for. If a contractor fails to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance they will be given a specified time to improve. If, after the specified time, they still fail to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance, the matter will be escalated to senior management in CPD for further action. If this occurs and their performance still does not improve to satisfactory levels within the specified period, it may be regarded as an act of grave professional misconduct and they may be issued with a Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance and the contract may be terminated. The issue of a Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance will result in the contractor being excluded from all procurement competitions being undertaken by Centres of Procurement Expertise on behalf of bodies covered by the Northern Ireland Procurement Policy for a period of twelve months from the date of issue of the Notice.

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

The UK does not have any special review body with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures in public procurement competitions. Instead; any challenges are dealt with by the High Court, Commercial Division, to which proceedings may be issued regarding alleged breaches of the PCR 2015 as amended

United Kingdom

Country

United Kingdom

six.4.3) Review procedure

Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures

CPD will comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and, where appropriate, will incorporate a standstill period (i.e. a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award of contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full information on the award decision. This provides time for the unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into.