DOT/Maritime Administration, MAR-380, Office of Acquisition, 400 -- 7th Street, SW, Room 7310, Washington, DC 20590

J -- MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION OF NINETY-FOUR (94) VESSELS OF THE READY RESERVE FORCE (RRF) BY SHIP MANAGERS SOL DTMA91-97-R-00002 DUE 091597 POC Dan Clever, Contract Specialist, (202)366-1737 E-MAIL: Contract Specialist for this Acquisition, dan.clever@marad.dot.gov. The Maritime Administration seeks the services of Ship Managers to activate, operate and maintain the ninety-four (94) ships of the Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force (RRF). Awardees must be capable of successfully supervising ship repair services including overhauls, drydockings, and upgrades. The ships are segregated (by class) into groups, with two or three vessels per group. These ships are located at three National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) locations: James River Reserve Fleet, Ft. Eustis, VA; Beaumont Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, TX; and Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, Benicia, CA.; as well as at various outport locations within the continental United States. Three vessels are outported in Japan. Multiple contract awards are contemplated. Awards will be limited to no more than twelve vessels per Ship Manager. The period of performance for these contracts is expected to be five years, subject to the availability of continued funding. Special Standards-Mandatory Requirements apply to this acquisition: Offerors must meet certain citizenship requirements (see 46 CFR Part 355). If offeror is sole proprietor, the individual must be a U.S. citizen. Firms with any other organizational structure (corporation, partnership, joint venture, etc.) must be organized under the laws of the United States or a State, District, Territory or Possession thereof. The controlling interest of any such organization must be by citizens of the United States. Additional information will be provided in the RFP. Offerors must be operators or owner/operators of vessels of at least 450 feet LWL, or with a minimum capacity of 7,500 DWT, or for Tankers, of at least 25,000 DWT. Prior to award, successful offerors must possess a valid Document of Compliance for shorebased management, or an Interim Document of Compliance, in accordance with the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (ISM Code). Such certification must be issued by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) or other approved ISM Registrar. Additional information will be provided in the solicitation. Potential offerors are cautioned to pay particular attention to the projected readiness requirements of these vessels, as contained in Technical Exhibit Four (TE 4), and the impact of these requirements upon contractual requirements. Evaluation factors will include technical excellence, management capability, cost and past performance. Awards will be made to those offerors proposing the best value to the government. Offerors will be required to submit written technical/management proposals, provide oral presentations of their proposals, and provide detailed written cost proposals. Potential offerors may request to be added to the solicitation mailing list and request a copy of the solicitation, in writing, from the Contact Point, at the address provided above. All requests for copies of this solicitation must include a check or money order, in the amount of $30.00, made payable to the Maritime Administration and sent to the address provided above. Offerors are advised that the RFP, the Performance Work Statement (PWS), exhibits, and attachments for this acquisition are expected to be prepared in MS Word, MS Excel, MS Rich Text, or WordPerfect Format and released on CD-ROMs. Requests for paper copies of the RFP previously received will be honored, however, insufficient time remains for additional paper copies to be provided. The solicitation (RFP) for this acquisition is currently scheduled for release on or about 1 August 1997. A pre-proposal conference is planned to take place three weeks after release of the solicitation, and will take place in Washington, D.C. Offers will be accepted from all interested, qualified firms. (0198)

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