S&MOCB/3390 Wreck Management Research Contract

The Salvage and Marine Operations (SALMO) Team, part of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) within the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), has the responsibility on behalf of Navy Command Headquarters (NCHQ) to carry out assessments, surveys and (if required) interventions on MOD-owned wrecks to reduce the risk of danger to the environment.

The SALMO Team intends to put in place a contact with a single contractor or contracting entity for the provision of Historic Desk Based Assessments (H-BDAs) for a portfolio of MOD-owned legacy wrecks. For the purpose of this Contract Notice, a legacy wreck is defined to mean a vessel that has been located on the seabed for at least 40 (forty) years.

The Salvage and Marine Operations (SALMO) Team, part of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) within the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), has the responsibility on behalf of Navy Command Headquarters (NCHQ) to carry out assessments, surveys and (if required) interventions on MOD-owned wrecks to reduce the risk of danger to the environment.

The SALMO Team intends to put in place a contact with a single contractor or contracting entity for the provision of Historic Desk Based Assessments (H-BDAs) for a portfolio of MOD-owned legacy wrecks. For the purpose of this Contract Notice, a legacy wreck is defined to mean a vessel that has been located on the seabed for at least 40 (forty) years.

Services under this contract include:

1. Produce H-BDAs for 482 (four hundred and eighty-two) legacy wrecks and identify any likely environmental and safety hazards caused by pollutants and/ or ammunition. The H-DBAs should comprise a comprehensive study of the wrecks based on an analysis of primarily archival material and, where appropriate, secondary sources. Note: this is a desk-based requirement and there is not a requirement to provide diving services on the wrecks.

2. Produce a single comprehensive information database based on the set of H-DBAs suitable for migration into a Geographical Information System (GIS).

3. Provide expert ad-hoc advice and support for historical and/ or archaeological requirements. Note: for the avoidance of doubt, all ad-hoc tasks shall be instructed at the sole discretion of the Authority and therefore there is no guarantee of ad-hoc tasks under this contract.

For further information concerning the scope of the services, please refer to the relevant procurement documents available via the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP).

Potential Tenderers attention is drawn to the following:

1. The duration of the contract will be 3 (three) years with a contract commencement date of the 01st of April 2023.

2. The estimated value of the contract (including estimated value of any ad-hoc tasks for the entire duration of the contract) is £780,000.00 (excl. VAT).

3. The Contract Notice allows Potential Tenderers to express an interest in the requirement. The Authority have set out the minimum standards on economic and financial standing and professional and technical knowledge that Potential Tenderers are required to meet (under Regulation 57 of the PCR 2015) if they are to quality to tender on the DSP. The maximum number of Potential Tenderers to be considered for the next stage of tendering is 6 (six).

4. The Authority reserves the right to award the contract, in the tender evaluation stage, based on the Tenderer’s initial response without negotiation.

Potential Tenderers should express their interest in this Contract Notice before 10:00am (GMT) on the 14th of October 2022.