Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2024/S 000-005118/EN)
Nature of contract: Supply contract
Procedure: Negotiated without a call for competition
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Supplies

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: Ministry of Defence
Town: Bristol
Country: United Kingdom
Email: ian.bailey104@mod.gov.uk
Internet address(es):
Main address: www.contracts.mod.uk

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: £1,500,000.00
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 34521100
II.1.3) Type of contract Supplies
II.1.4) Short Description:
Provision of Tactical Personal Water Craft including in-service support and post design services
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:1500000.00
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Provision of Tactical Personal Water Craft and In service support

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:2024-02-14
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: Salterns Marina Ltd, t/a Golden Arrow Marine
Town: Southampton
Country: United Kingdom
Nuts code:
The contractor is an SME: no

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: DE&S
Town: Bristol
Country: United Kingdom

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2024-02-15

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

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)
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights

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:
The Boats Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (“the Authority”) intends to extend the existing Contract CCS/0106 with Salterns Marina for a period of 24 months, at a total cost of up to £1.5M ex VAT. The current Contract runs to 31 Mar 24 and provides support for Tactical Watercraft through the procurement and upkeep of Spares, Repairs, and Post Design Service (PDS) Tasks for Support Equipment (SE).
It is considered that the contract can be extended using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice pursuant to Regulation 16(1)(d)(i)(aa) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011: It has been deemed necessary to extend the existing service for technical reasons in addition to the fact to compete the requirement at this time would cause significant disruption to Mod Operations.
Due to the complexity of the TWC contract and the registered designs for “Tactical Water Craft” held by Salterns Marina, it would not be strategically wise or economically advantageous to recompete this support requirement for a 2 year period at this time, as:
a) Salterns Marina has been deemed the only economic operator with access to current technical designs, which form part of the Tactical Watercraft which provide operational continuity for MoD Operations. The loss of Salterns Marina technical designs if awarded to another economic operator, could have safety and operational implications on the end user if sufficient design information and SQEP is not available to maintain existing equipment. Salterns Marina expertise is essential to maintain the elements of the craft which are added to convert the base model Personal Water Craft in to the Tactical Water Craft operated MoD Forces. These modifications are TWC specific and are part of the UK design held by Salterns Marina via the Intellectual Property Office. These modifications greatly improve the performance and capability of the standard craft and are essential to MoD operations.
b) Competing the capability at this time may introduce a mixed configuration fleet, which is essential to avoid at this time for operational purposes. Operating a mixed configuration fleet would cause issues at User/Unit level with regards to spares, training, documentation etc. When MoD Forces deploy, they are generally limited to how much equipment can be deployed because of restrictions on the ship or aircraft. Running a mixed fleet would require two distinct sets of spares to support Ops, possibly restricting other equipment that can be taken. Additionally, extra training would be required for end Users to enable them to make effective running repairs in the field and different supporting documentation would have to be carried. This would be difficult for MoD units to manage at reach in certain regions where they are forward deployed.
c) The lack of rights we have to use information about the TWC in order to compete for its manufacture could cause an increase in development costs and potentially leave the Authority with an unsupported platform until these issues are overcome.