Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2023/S 000-031026/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
Postal address: Abbey Wood
Town: Bristol
Postal code: BS34 8JH
Country: United Kingdom
Contact Person: Stephen Cooper/Jordan Jones
Email: Jordan.jones685@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: WECDIS
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 63724000
II.1.3) Type of contract Services
II.1.4) Short Description:
Installation of fleet software
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:6000000.00
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Software installation

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
Contract No: SANSC2/04038
Title: WECDIS

V.2) Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:2023-10-06
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: OSI Maritime Systems
Town: Burnaby
Country: Canada
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: MOD
Town: Bristol
Country: United Kingdom

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2023-10-20

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)
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
absence of competition for technical reasons

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 Communications & Situational Awareness (CSA) Project Team within Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, (“the Authority”) intends to award a contract (the Contract) to OSI Maritime Systems Ltd (“the Contractor”) for the combined support of WECDIS Type Approval Upgrade ROYAL NAVY WARSHIP ELECTRONIC CHART DISPLAY AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (RN-WECDIS) AND WARSHIP AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM (WAIS) OBSOLESCENCE RECOVERY. In accordance with Regulation 4 of the Defence and Security Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) 2019 Regulations (SI 2019/697) this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 as amended (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 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 Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 for technical reasons. The value of the requirement is approximately £10 million.
Navigation capability on RN ships is a critical component of a ship’s ability to operate and fight, hence any failure or degradation of these systems will place significant risk on the RN’s ability to fulfil the Authority’s required defence outcomes in accordance with the Authority’s Defence Strategy and RN Command Plan. Both WECDIS and WAIS capabilities also require significant upgrades fleet-wide to overcome obsolescence and deliver regulatory compliance to new IMO standards being introduced by end-2028 whist utilising the common software provided by the Contractor
.
Only the Contractor can achieve ECPINS software integration of any obsolescence solution as they own the IPR imbedded in the software within the WECDIS and WAIS equipment, own all supporting documentation/manuals needed to maintain it and possess the SQEP technical expertise to carry out all activities of the work required and bespoke SQEP with capacity to provide training where necessary. The Authority does not have the necessary rights in the IPR to provide to a third party
It is considered that only the Contractor can achieve delivery of this requirement within the timeframe available on all ships within scope, without considerable risk to the continued operation of the fleet. In addition, any approval for hardware to host OSI ECPINS software must be delivered with OSI support. As OEM for ECPINS software, OSI maintains the hardware Type Approved list. Any new hardware solution that isn’t already on OSI’s Type Approval list will incur at least 12 months additional integration, testing and certification activity before it can commence platform integration activity. Time is a huge consideration here as its imperative to re-gain IMO Safety of Life at Sea Accreditation. Any new hardware must be approved (IMO Compliant) and they sit in the ECPINS Type Approval register with OSI which they maintain.
Furthermore, utilisation of and training on a single fleet-wide WECDIS/WAIS hardware and software solution will remove incompatibility and interoperability risk in two possible solutions and will remove disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance going forward.