Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (Utility)
Municipal Buildings, Fore Street
Port Glasgow
PA14 5EQ
Telephone
+44 1475749920
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKM83 - Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA12082
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Other activity
Harbour Authority & Asset Owner
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
HOA3 - Harbour Operating Agreement
Reference number
CMAL0322
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 63721000 - Port and waterway operation services and associated services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
This notice concerns the award of a harbour operating agreement, known as HOA3, by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) to CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL).
CMAL is the statutory harbour authority at certain harbours and other marine facilities and is responsible for the operation, management, maintenance and improvement of them.
CFL is due to be appointed by Transport Scotland on behalf of Scottish Ministers as the operator of lifeline ferry services in the Clyde and Hebrides, under a ferry services contract known as CHFS3. Please refer to this notice published by Transport Scotland for further details: Notice ID: MAY529943. The CHFS3 services will call at the CMAL harbours.
CMAL is awarding the HOA3 to CFL because it is the operator of CHFS3 and because of the need to have the same operator for both the ferry services and the harbour operations as explained in this notice.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: £70,000,000
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKM6 - Highlands and Islands
- UKM8 - West Central Scotland
Main site or place of performance
Ports and harbours within the CHFS operating area
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
CMAL intends to award the HOA3 to CFL following the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a call for competition under regulation 48 of the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016. Regulation 48(1)(c)(ii) is applicable in this case due to the unique position of CFL as the lifeline ferry services operator under CHFS3, due to which competition for HOA3 is absent for technical reasons.
Both HOA3 and CHFS3 involve the performance of harbour based duties at CMAL harbours:
The harbour operating duties include: assessing navigational safety in the harbour, vessels mooring operations, operating pier equipment, inspecting harbour assets and reporting on defects, management of navigation, collection of third party harbour charges, liaison with third party tenants and harbour users, housekeeping (including cleaning slipways, cleaning ladders, weed-killing, septic tank emptying, potable water testing), managing waste at the harbours (generated on the harbour and from vessels), dealing with dangerous goods in harbour areas, managing harbour user conflict, managing harbour health and safety including permits to work, and acting as the first point of contact to deal with harbour emergencies and security issues. These duties are allocated to CFL under HOA3.
The harbour based ferry operations duties include: managing ferry bookings (including sale of tickets), checking-in customers, face-to-face dealings with ferry customers, marshalling ferry traffic and pedestrians and manging ferry disruptions. These duties are allocated to CFL under CHFS3.
Currently, and historically, the harbour operating duties and the harbour based ferry operations duties have always been delivered by the same operator entity, with the same workforce deployed to perform all the duties. Under this arrangement, individual staff members perform dual roles covering both harbour operations and ferry operations. For the reasons explained below, this is the only reasonable and viable means of delivering the services.
CFL is the current incumbent operator of both the harbour operations (under a HOA2 contract awarded by CMAL on 22 August 2016) and the lifeline ferry services (under a CHFS2 contract award by The Scottish Ministers on 22 August 2016).
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
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated without a prior call for competition
- The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
- absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation:
See Additional information at VI.3
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section five. Award of contract/concession
Contract No
CMLA0322
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
12 May 2025
five.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
CalMac Ferries Limited
The Ferry Terminal
Gourock
PA19 1QP
Telephone
+44 7983199180
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKM83 - Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £70,000,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
The date in V.2.1 should be disregarded when viewing this notice, as it is the date of sending this notice and is completed only as it is a mandatory field which does not enable a date in the future to be entered. The current indicative date for award of HOA3 is 30 September 2025.
CFL is and will continue to be the operator of the lifeline ferry services under CHFS3 and is the only economic operator that could conceivably deliver HOA3. This is due to the technical arrangements for the workforce, under which individual staff members perform dual roles. CFL will have a workforce under CHFS3 that is responsible for delivery of the harbour based ferry operations duties. In order to perform those duties effectively, the individual staff members must be based on the ground in each harbour. The nature of these lifeline ferry services means that many harbours are in remote and rural locations. It is not possible for one individual to adequately perform those duties at multiple harbours.
Many of the harbours are served by few ferries per day (or week), with few other harbour users, and so open only for limited hours a day based around the scheduled lifeline ferry services. Individual staff members based on the ground at those harbours therefore have capacity to perform harbour operator duties as well as the harbour based ferry operations duties. The services (harbours and ferries) have always been delivered in tandem, and existing staff members have the skills and experience to perform a dual role.
In circumstances where CFL already has a workforce on the ground in the harbours to perform the ferry services under CHFS3, with the existing capacity to perform the harbour operator duties under HOA3, it is inconceivable that any third party operator could compete to perform the HOA3 services.
CMAL has considered whether a reasonable alternative or substitute (to appointing CFL) exists for the delivery of HOA3. It has concluded that there is no such alternative or substitute. While in theory it would be possible for a third party harbour operator to deploy its own second workforce to perform the harbour operations (alongside the CFL workforce performing the ferry operations), in practice this would be ruinously inefficient, requiring a substantial increase (near doubling) of the overall workforce in the harbour, significant under-utilisation and excess capacity in individual staff members (who would be prevented from performing a dual role), and significant staff accommodation challenges at harbours where available space is already constrained. While the potential for a transfer of certain staff from CFL to a third party harbour operator might potentially create a level of competition, this would in itself be an artificial solution that would come at the cost of inefficiency and unworkability, because CFL would then have to recruit to back-fill roles (including attracting new staff at remote locations) and this would not address the fundamental concern of having an inflated over-sized harbour based workforce with significant under-utilisation and excess capacity across two operators and significant physical constraints for in-harbour accommodation.
The absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement but instead reflects the reality of how these important lifeline ferry services can continue to be delivered in an effective, efficient, sustainable and financially responsible way.
(SC Ref:798469)
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Greenock Sheriff Court
1 Nelson Street
Greenock
PA15 1TR
Telephone
+44 1475787073
Country
United Kingdom