Design & Build of New Passenger Vessel

The requirement is for a new 33m Class B Ro-Ro passenger vessel to operate on Shetland’s routes as a relief vessel (the "Vessel"). The Vessel must be built and delivered to the Council in Shetland, Scotland by 31st March 2029. The Council has a strong preference for an earlier handover of 31st October 2028.

The contract awarded will be BIMCO NEWBUILDCON with amendments, as described in more detail in the draft Invitation to Negotiate ("ITN") included in the Procurement Documents (the "Contract").

The procurement procedure being followed for the Vessel​ is the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation (CPN) in accordance with Regulation 30 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 (the "Regulations").

The structure of the procurement (the “Procurement”) is as follows:

Stage 1: Shetland Islands Council (the “Council”), by publishing this Contract Notice, invites candidates to request to participate in the process by completion of an SPD response;

Stage 2: successful candidates from Stage 1 will be invited to submit Initial Tenders (“Initial Tenders”) and to negotiate with the Council with a view to improving the content of their Initial Tenders (the “Negotiation Process”);

Stage 3: Tenderers will then be invited to submit Final Tenders (“Final Tenders”) which will be evaluated in order for the Council to identify the most economically advantageous tender (“MEAT”); and

Stage 4: subject to completion of the mandatory standstill period, and approval of a full business case by the Council’s elected members, the Council will then enter into the Contract with the successful Tenderer.

The Council reserves the right to award the Contract on the basis of Initial Tenders without negotiation in accordance with Regulation 30(16) of the Regulations. In that scenario, the Council will not conduct the Negotiation Process or invite Final Tenders, and will move directly to Stage 4.. The draft ITN being published with this contract notice is provided for information only. The final version of the ITN will be provided to those candidates who are shortlisted to Stage 2. The Council reserves the right to amend any part of the ITN, including the award criteria, in preparing the final version before Stage 2.

Please note that it is an essential requirement of the procurement process that Tenderers fully complete and submit a satisfactory Single Procurement Document (SPD) (Scotland) and satisfy all requirements specified or referred to in the Contract Notice.

The Council is not and shall not be under any obligation to award a contract and shall be at liberty to abandon the procurement exercise at any time including any time after submission and evaluation of Tenders.

The Council intends to negotiate all Initial Tenders received with a view to improving their content. The anticipated Negotiation Process is set out in the draft ITN included in the Procurement Documents.

However, the Council reserves the right to award the Contract on the basis of Initial Tenders without negotiation in accordance with Regulation 30(16) of the Regulations. In that scenario, the Council will not conduct the Negotiation Process or invite Final Tenders, and will move directly to Stage 4.

The Contract shall be subject to Scots Law and the jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts.

GBP means Great British Pounds.

The Council, having considered whether to impose community benefit requirements as part of the Procurement, has determined that these cannot be imposed in a manner which is proportionate and relevant to the subject matter of the Contract. The geographical location of the Council’s area means that there are limitations to the local community benefits that shipbuilders can offer as part of this contract.