VESSEL CHARTER AND SUPPORT SERVICES FOR DEPLOYMENT AND RETRIEVAL OF VIDEO ARRAYS eDNA SAMPLING AND SIDESCAN MAPPING

Active

Contract Opportunity

COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION

Vessel and crew for deployment and retrieval of video arrays, eDNA sampling and sidescan mapping

(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice and in accordance with the simplified acquisition procedures authorized in FAR Part 13. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

(ii) This solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ). Submit written quotes on RFQ Number 1333MF25Q0033.

(iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2025-03 (Jan 2025) (Deviation 2025-07) (May 2025).

(iv) This solicitation is being issued as a total Small Business Set-Aside. The associated NAICS code is 488390. The small business size standard is 488390.

(v) This combined solicitation/synopsis is for purchase of the following commercial services:

CLIN 0001 – Base Year

Services, non-personal, to provide all labor, equipment and materials (unless otherwise provided herein) necessary for Vessel and crew for deployment and retrieval of video arrays, eDNA sampling and sidescan mapping for the Southeast Fisheries Science Center, in accordance with the Statement of Work. Period of Performance Award through November 30, 2025.

(vi) Description of requirements is as follows:

See attached Statement of Work

(vii) Date(s) and place(s) of delivery and acceptance:

Period of performance shall be:

Base Year for ten days from Award through November 30, 2025.

The start date is an estimate and is subject to new funding approval processes. If there is a significant delay in awarding this contract, a shortened base year Period of Performance may be utilized or an updated quote may be requested with a new 12-month base year and corresponding option years.

Place of Performance is in the area between longitudes 87°20’ and 85°25’ and south to latitude 28°25’, to a maximum depth of 200 m.

(viii) FAR provision 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Sept 2023), applies to this acquisition and can be found on the Request for Quote form attachment.

(ix) FAR provision 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2021), applies to this acquisition and can be found on the Request for Quote form attachment.

(x) FAR provision 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (May 2024) (Deviation 2025-02) (Deviation 2025-03) (Feb 2025), applies to this acquisition and can be found on the Request for Quote form attachment. Offerors are advised to include a completed copy of the provision with its offer, unless the offeror’s Reps & Certs section on SAM.gov is accurate and current.

Per Deviation 2025-02/03: System updates may lag policy updates. The System for Award Management (SAM) may continue to require entities to complete representations based on provisions that are not included in agency solicitations, including 52.223-22, Public Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduction Goals—Representation, and paragraph (t) of 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. Examples include 52.222-25, Affirmative Action Compliance, and paragraph (d) of 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. Contracting officers will not consider these representations when making award decisions or enforce requirements. Entities are not required to, nor are they able to, update their entity registration to remove these representations in SAM.

(xi) FAR clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2023), applies to this acquisition and can be found on the Request for Quote form attachment.

(xii) FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Jan 2025) (Deviation 2025-02) (Deviation 2025-03) (Feb 2025), applies to this acquisition and can be found in full text on the Request for Quote form attachment.

(xiii) Any additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions that apply can be found on the Request for Quote form attachment.

(xiv) Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) and assigned rating does not apply.

(xv) Quotes are required to be received in the contracting office no later than 16:00PM EST on 6/24/2025. All quotes must be submitted electronically via email to heather.mahle@noaa.gov.

(xvi) Any questions regarding this solicitation should be submitted electronically via email to heather.mahle@noaa.gov

UTILIZATION OF FEDCONNECT® FOR CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION

The Department of Commerce will utilize the FedConnect® web portal in administering this award. The contractor must be registered in FedConnect® and have access to the FedConnect® website located at https://www.fedconnect.net/Fedconnect/. For assistance in registering or for other FedConnect® questions please call the FedConnect® Help Desk at (800) 899-6665 or email at support@fedconnect.net. There is no charge for registration in or use of FedConnect®.

(End)

1352.215-72 Inquiries (Apr 2010)

OFFERORS MUST SUBMIT ALL QUESTIONS CONCERNING THIS SOLICITATION IN WRITING VIA EMAIL TO Heather.Mahle@noaa.gov. QUESTIONS SHOULD BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN 3 days days before offerors are due. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract.

(End of clause)

FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Sep 2023)

NOTICE TO OFFERORS: Instructions for submitting quotations under this request for quote must be followed. Failure to provide all information to aid in the evaluation may be considered non-responsive. Offers that are non-responsive may be excluded from further evaluation and rejected without further notification to the offeror.

1. Submit PDF or Microsoft Word format quotations to the office specified in this solicitation at or before the time specified in the solicitation. Quote documents shall include signed copies of the sf 1449 to acknowledge the solicitation and any applicable amendments. Email quotes are required and can be sent to heather.mahle@noaa.gov.

2. Offeror shall have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM found at https://sam.gov/content/home) in order to provide a quote and be eligible for award. Must provide their UEID/CAGE CODE with their quote.

3. Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of them or their capability.

4. Offerors must provide all evaluation criteria in accordance with FAR 52.212-2. Offerors who do not provide all evaluation criteria may not be considered.

THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR NON-RECEIPT OF QUOTES. IT IS THE CONTRACTOR’S RESPONSIBILITY TO REQUEST AND RECEIVE A CONFIRMATION OF THE QUOTE RECEIPT.

FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation- Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2021)

Offers will be evaluated based on price and the factors set forth in paragraph (a).

The evaluation will consider the Non-Price Technical Solution (Technical Approach and Past Performance) to be significantly more important than price. However, as quotes are determined to be more equal in the non-price evaluation factor, price becomes more important and may become the determining factor for award. If, at any stage of the evaluation, all vendors are determined to have submitted equal, or virtually equal, Non-Price Technical Solutions, price could become the factor in determining which vendor will receive the award.

The Government intends to evaluate the quotes and award a purchase order based on the Offeror’s initial quote; therefore, the Offeror’s initial quote should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a Non-Price Technical Solution and price standpoint.

The Government reserves the right not to award a purchase order depending on the quality of the quote(s) submitted and the availability of funds. Furthermore, the Government may waive informalities and minor irregularities or omissions in quotes received.

The Government may make award to other than the lowest-priced Offeror or the Offeror with the highest technical rating if the Contracting Officer determines that to do so would result in the best value to the Government. The Government will not make an award at a significantly higher overall price to achieve only slightly superior performance capability.

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered.

Paragraph (a) is hereby completed as follows: Evaluation will be based on the following:

1. Technical Approach and Capability.
   
   The Offeror’s overall technical approach will be evaluated to assess the Government's level of confidence in the Offeror’s understanding of, approach to, and ability to successfully perform the requirements as described in the Statement of Work. Provide a detailed description of the company’s experience performing similar services. A detailed technical approach write-up describing how the Offeror will perform this service is required to be submitted with the quote. The technical approach write-up must not be a reiteration of the Statement of Work, but how your company plans on performing the tasks listed in the attached Statement of Work. (i.e. performance checklists, anticipated number of employees, anticipated dates and The degree to which the quotation demonstrates an understanding of the requirements as well as the minimum vessel and crew requirements stated in the SOW will be evaluated, etc.)

1. Past Performance.
   
   Quote shall include at least two references from at least two separate contracts for similar and relevant recent services within the past two years including the name, phone number, full address, and e-mail address of the reference to demonstrate the offeror’s capability to successfully perform the services listed in the Statement of Work.
   
   The offeror is required to fill out blocks 12, 17, 23, 24 and 30 on the SF 1449 and send the attached Past Performance Questionnaire to the references provided by the offeror in their submission. The references should complete the Past Performance Questionnaire and then email it directly to heather.mahle@noaa.gov by the closing date and time of this solicitation. The Government reserves the right to consider past performance report forms received after the due date and time of the solicitation, past performance questionnaires submitted from previous solicitations, and to contact references for verification or additional information.
   
   The Offeror's past performance on related contracts will be evaluated to determine, as appropriate, successful performance of contract requirements, quality and timeliness of delivery of goods and services, cost management, communications between contracting parties, proactive management and customer satisfaction. The Government will use its discretion to determine the sources of past performance information used in the evaluation, and the information may be obtained from references provided by the Offeror, the agency’s knowledge of Offeror performance, other government agencies or commercial entities, or past performance databases, and will be based on responsiveness, quality, and customer services.
   
   Offerors lacking relevant past performance history, or for whom past performance information is either not available or has not been submitted to the Government, will receive a neutral rating for past performance. A good past performance rating provides higher confidence than a neutral or satisfactory rating.

1. Price.
   
   The Government will evaluate the price quote for completeness and reasonableness in relation to the RFQ requirements. Quoted prices must be entirely compatible with the Non-Price Technical Solution.

The Government intends to award a trade-off, single firm fixed-price purchase order on an all or some basis with payment terms of Net 30.

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(End of provision)

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