Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2024/S 000-002836/EN)
Nature of contract: Service contract
Procedure: Negotiated without a call for competition
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Services

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: Ministry of Defence, Naval Ship Support
Town: Bristol
Country: United Kingdom
Email: DESShipsComrcl-NSS-RFA-TLS@mod.gov.uk
Internet address(es):
Main address:

I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions
I.5) Main activity
Defence

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title: Classification, Survey and Design Appraisal Services for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Vessels
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 50241000
II.1.3) Type of contract Services
II.1.4) Short Description:
The MOD intends to amend the Contract for the provision of Classification, Survey and Design Appraisal Services to support the FISS requirement for Royal Fleet Auxiliary Vessels, Royal Navy Ocean Survey Vessel and Survey Vessels by extending the current term by 18 months until 30th September 2025 to ensure the continued provision of in-service support.
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:4420000.00
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK’s Ministry of Defence.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) manages the in-service support of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Hydrographic and Patrol vessels via the Future In-Service Support (FISS) Contracts, including Contract number CSS/0126 (the “Contract”) with Lloyd’s Register EMEA (“Lloyd’s Register”).
The MOD intends to amend the Contract for the provision of Classification, Survey and Design Appraisal Services to support the FISS requirement for Royal Fleet Auxiliary Vessels, Royal Navy Ocean Survey Vessel and Survey Vessels by extending the current term by 18 months until 30th September 2025 to ensure the continued provision of in-service support. The current value of the contract is £3,400,000 and the approximate value of the extension is £1,020,000, giving an estimated revised contract value following the extension of £4,420,000.

II.2.5) Award criteria
II.2.11) Information about options
Options: no
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice(in accordance with Article 28 of Directive 2009/81/EU)
IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement(GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: no
IV.2) Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession
V.2) Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:2024-01-26
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: Lloyd’s Register EMEA
Town: Nailsea
Country: United Kingdom
Nuts code:
The contractor is an SME: yes

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession(excluding VAT)
for framework agreements – total maximum value for this lot
for contracts based on framework agreements, if required – value of contract(s) for this lot not included in
previous contract award notices
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Value or proportion likely to be subcontracted to third parties

Section VI: Complementary informationVI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: Ministry of Defence, Naval Ship Support
Town: Bristol
Country: United Kingdom

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2024-01-26

Justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for
competition in the Official Journal of the European Union
1.Justification for the choice of the negotiated procedure without publication of a call for competition in accordance with
Article 28 of Directive 2009/81/EU

No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to:
negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice

The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment,study or development under the conditions
stated in the directive(for services and supplies only)

3.Explanation
Please explain in a clear and comprehensive manner why the award of the contract without prior publication in the Official Journal of the European Union
is lawful, by stating the relevant facts and, as appropriate, the conclusions of law in accordance with the directive:
In accordance with regulation 4 of The Defence and Security Public Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/697) this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (DSPCR) as amended (in particular by SI 2019/697 and SI 2020/1450). Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate. It is considered that the award of the contract, by way of an amendment to the Contract, without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (as required by the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR as the continued in-service support services cannot for technical reasons be carried out by a different supplier due to the mandatory statutory, regulatory and MOD standards required whilst ensuring on-going operability.
The vessels are operated and maintained to both commercial and naval standards and are subject to classification society rules and Naval Authority (NA) rules. Lloyd’s Register have co-authored the Lloyd’s Register Naval Ship Rules and Regulations (LRNSR) for the Classification of Ships and Naval Ships that apply to naval and RFA ships. RFA Tide class vessels are built to these rules and the future FSS class are being designed and built to these LRNSR rules.
Only Lloyd’s Register, the parent Classification Society of the LRNSR rule set, can conduct surveys, plan appraisals and provide certification against any RFA vessels which are classified as being “in-class” in accordance with the LRNSR. In operating and maintaining vessels in line with LRNSR, it is not possible for another Classification Society to provide equivalent certification against an alternative set of Naval Ship rules. Changing the rule set in respect of which the RFA platforms are currently classified would introduce an unacceptable level of safety risk to the vessels and personnel.
Lloyd’s Register is the only Classification society, for these RFA vessels, that have delegated authority from the DE&S Naval Authority Group for issuing Naval Ship Stability Certification on their behalf.