TRAWLING VESSEL CHARTER

Trade Agreement: Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)
Tendering Procedures: Generally only one firm has been invited to bid
Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Government Objectives Representing Best Interests/Value to Govt
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Vendor Name and Address: 
Jim Pattison Enterprises Ltd.
Foot of Gore Avenue
Vancouver British Columbia
Canada
V6A2Y7
Nature of Requirements: 


1.  Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) 

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities.  If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier. 



2.  Definition of the Requirement

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has a requirement for the provision of two vessels and crews to conduct marine fish and invertebrate research surveys in coastal waters off the west coast of British Columbia.

This charter is to conduct surveys that support fisheries research on the abundance, distribution, condition, and demographics of marine fish and invertebrates.  Many of the surveys support long term time series that require following established fishing protocols during specific time periods.  In addition to fishing, acoustic and oceanographic information will be collected on most of the surveys including vertical CTD profiles and plankton tows.  Collectively the survey areas span the entire BC coast and also include US waters in Puget Sound.  

Individual surveys will require anywhere from 14 to 28 days each and may occur back to back.  Each survey may require at least one scheduled scientific crew change to be determined by DFO.  It is expected that the Survey Vessel will use those days for re-fueling and re-provisioning.

The survey schedule is provided below.  The duration of each survey is indicated as well as the earliest possible start and end dates (the date ranges span a longer time period than the duration so as to provide some scheduling flexibility).  The actual start and end dates of each survey will be mutually agreed upon between the DFO and the Contractor.

Vessel A is required to complete the following surveys (72 days total):  
1) West Coast Vancouver Island Multispecies Small-mesh Bottom Trawl Survey.  16 days duration to be completed between May 1 and May 20, 2017.
2) Hecate Strait SynopticBottom Trawl Survey.  28 days duration to be completed between May 18 and June 24, 2017.
3) Pacific Hake Acoustic-Trawl Survey.  28 days to be completed between August 14 and September 15, 2017.
 
Vessel B is required to complete the following surveys(74 days total): 
4) Summer Strait of Georgia Juvenile Salmon Survey.  16 days to be completed between June 16 and July 5, 2017.
5) Summer West Coast Vancouver Island Juvenile Salmon Survey.  14 days to be completed between July 6 and July 19, 2017.
6) West Coast of Vancouver Island Pelagic Ecosystem Night Trawl Survey.  14 days to be completed between July 20 and August 3, 2017.
7) Fall Strait of Georgia Juvenile Salmon Survey.  16 days to be completed between September 9 and September 29, 2017.
8) Fall Queen Charlotte Sound/West Coast Vancouver Island Juvenile Salmon Survey.  14 days to be completed between September 25 and October 13, 2017.

The vessel must be capable of fishing in US waters as this is a component of both the spring and fallStrait of Georgia Juvenile Salmon Surveys and the Pacific Hake Acoustic-Trawl Survey.  If the vessel has not fished in US waters in the last 12 months, the Contractor must acquire the required clearance and approvals in a time frame that meets the survey requirements.  In addition, any additional time required to clear customs in these situations will not be considered survey time.

The total cost of the 146 survey days as listed above for Vessel A and B combined cannot exceed $1,935,000 CAD.

At the discretion of DFO, and when agreed by the contractor, vessel A may be requested - at the Vessel A day rate - in place of Vessel B for all or part of the Fall Strait of Georgia Juvenile Salmon Survey and all or part of the Fall Queen Charlotte Sound/West Coast Vancouver Island Juvenile Salmon Survey.

At the discretion of DFO, additional days may be requested for any survey in order to achieve the survey objectives. Additional days would be at the same rate as described in the agreement for the particular vessel.
The total cost of all work cannot exceed $2,000,000 CAD.



3.  Criteria for Assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements)
 
Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets the following requirements: 


Vessel A

Vessel A Specifications

1. As of April 1, 2017, the vessel must have been actively used for either commercial trawl fishing or research trawl fishing in the past 12 months.
2. The vesselmust have a minimum overall length of 33.53 m (110 ft).
3. The vessel must be able to maintain a minimum cruising speed of at least 9 knots in low sea states.
4. The vessel must be equipped with a powered launch with minimum three person capacity for acoustic calibration work and transfers to and from shore and the vessel.
5. The vessel must be completely rigged for stern trawling and be equipped with a stern ramp and gallows or gantry.
6. The vessel must have split trawl winches sufficient warp (trawl cable) so as to safely and effectively fish to 500 meters depth.  Vessels must be able to continue survey operations in the event of loss of up to 100 m of warp.  The Contractor will be responsible for the cost of replacing any warp lost or damaged during a survey.  Warp must be a minimum of 1.6 cm (7/8-in) diameter, in good condition and marked as to length.  The warp must be accurately measured prior to the commencement of a survey.  The trawl winches must be able to retrieve the research trawl at a minimum rate of 61 m (200 ft) per minute.
7. Fishing gear performance must be monitored for each research tow.  Therefore, the vessel must provide net mensuration and trawl sounder equipment that provides, at minimum door-spread, headline height andheadline depth.  The trawl sounder that provides headline height and depth sensor can be wired or wireless.  For Survey 3 (Hake Acoustic), there is an additional requirement of a wireless or wired trawl sounder that can identify acoustic targets as theyenter the net. The Contractor is responsible for the maintenance cost of sensors and equipment.  The Contractor will be responsible for covering the replacement cost of any sensors lost during survey operations. 
8. The vessel must be equipped with GPS, depth sounder, and net mensuration systems equipped with serial RS232 data outputs to provide data to scientific computers.  The Contractor must ensure that the data outputs are functioning prior to the survey.  The data output must be functioning for the duration of the survey.  If any data output ceases to function, fishing activities will be suspended until the data output is re-established by the Contractor.
9. For survey 3 (Hake), the vessel must also provide a winch with at least  525 meters ofsuitable wire installed in a location suitable for deploying a portable CTD to obtain vertical water profiles and a bongo net to obtain plankton samples. The winch must be capable of hauling scientific equipment to the surface at a rate of 1m/second.  CTD casts are to a maximum depth of 500m (or to within 10m of the bottom in shallower waters) and bongo nets to a maximum depth of 250m (or to within 10 m of the bottom in shallower waters).  The vessel must also be able to accommodate a portable electricwinch(up to a size of 1m x 1m x 1m) in a protected area of the deck for the deployment of specialized underwater cameras off the side of the vessel.
10. For survey 3 (Hake), the vessel must provide KONGSBERG SIMRAD 38 kHz (ES38B) and 120 kHz (ES120-7 series) hull-mounted transducers.
11. The vessel must have clean and sanitary cabins and beds for a minimum of 7 science staff in addition to the vessel crew.  The vessel must have at least two functioning marine heads and showers that can be used in privacy.
12. The vessel must have a working washer and dryer for personal laundry.
13. The vessel must be able to provide the following scientific work areas:
 a. A level, suitably located, dedicated dry counter work space at least 0.6 X 1.2 m (2 X 4 ft) on the bridge for installation of DFO-supplied computers, peripherals, and connection to the ship’s GPS, sounder, and trawl mensuration electronics.
 b. Either an adequate conveyor system that can be used by science staff to sort the catches or a deckarea which can accommodate at least a 4 square metres (36 sq ft) raised sorting bin with at least 1500 lb capacity.  The sorting bin must be a reasonable working height and be positioned so that at least three sides of the table can be accessed by staffwhile sorting catch and collecting biological samples.  Note that the Contractor must provide the sorting bin.
 c. A safe work area for weighing the catch.  This area must be located near both the sorting area (conveyor system or bin) and a method to discard catch (scuppers or conveyors).  This area must have space to secure both a laptop computer and an electronic balance provided by DFO (approximately 1 x 2 m (3 x 7 ft)).  The area must be either covered or large enough such that a protective housing (2 x 2ft) for the laptop computer can be installed.
 d. A safe, covered work area of approximately 6 square metres (~64 sq ft) for collecting biological samples.  Specifically, there must be at least three (3) separate raised (at least 0.9 m (3 ft) feet high) work surfaces each at least 0.6 x 1.8 m (2 x 6 ft) where science staff can secure an electronic balance, a length measuring board, a laptop computer, and other sampling equipment as provided by DFO.
14. The vessel must provide three nutritionally balanced meals each survey day.  Meal times will be coordinated with the Chief Scientist to accommodate both the need to complete sampling work and the time required to prepare meals by the cook.  Meals will be provided for all scientific personnel during all survey days. 

Vessel A Crew Experience

The Captain must have a minimum of five years of bottom and mid-water trawl fishing experience as master of a comparable-sized trawler in British Columbia waters within the past 10 years. 
The lead-fisher must have a minimum of five years’ experience in trawl fishing and in building, rigging, repairing, and operating trawls.  At least one other fisher (fisher, engineer-fisher, or cook-fisher) must have a minimum of two years’ experience in trawl fishing and assisting in trawl gear repair.


Vessel B

Vessel B Specifications

1. As of April 1, 2017, the vessel must have been actively used for either commercial trawl fishing or research trawl fishing in the past 12 months.
2. The vessel musthave a minimum overall length of 25.9 m (85 ft).
3. The vessel must be able to maintain a minimum cruising speed of at least 8 knots in low sea states.  
4. The vessel must be able to maintain a continuous speed of 9.3 km/hr or 5 knots under “normal” sea conditions while towing a modified Model 250 mid-water trawl at the surface with 150 - 200 m of main warp deployed. 
5. The vessel must be equipped with a powered launch with minimum three person capacity for transfers to and from shore and the vessel.
6. The vessel must be completely rigged for stern trawling and be equipped with a stern ramp and gallows or gantry.
7. The vessel must have split trawl winches with sufficient warp (trawl cable) so as to safely and effectively fish to 500 meters.  Vessels must be able to continue survey operations in the event of loss of up to 100 m of warp.  The Contractor will be responsible for the cost of replacing any warp lost or damaged during a survey.  Warp must be a minimum of 1.6 cm (7/8-in) diameter, in good condition and marked as to length.  The warp should be accurately measured prior to the commencement of a survey.  The trawl winches must be able to retrieve the research trawl at a minimum rate of 61 m (200 ft) per minute
8. Fishing gear performance mustbe monitored for each research tow.  Therefore, the vessel must provide net mensuration and trawl sounder equipment that provides, at minimum door-spread, headline height and headline depth.  The trawl sounder may be wired or wireless.  The Contractor is responsible for the maintenance cost of sensors and equipment.  DFO will cover the replacement cost of any sensors lost during survey operations. 
9. The vessel must be equipped with GPS, depth sounder, and net mensuration systems equipped with serialRS232 data outputs to provide data to a science computer.  The Contractor must ensure that the data outputs are functioning prior to the survey.  The data output must be functioning for the duration of the survey.  If any data output ceases to function,fishing activities will be suspended until the data output is re-established by the Contractor.
10. For all surveys (Juvenile Salmon and Pelagic Ecosystem Night Time) the vessel must also provide a winch with at least 525 meters of suitable wire installed in a location suitable for deploying a portable CTD to obtain vertical water profiles and a bongo net to obtain plankton samples. The winch must be capable of hauling scientific equipment to the surface at a rate of 1m/second.  CTD casts areto a maximum depth of 500m (or to within 10m of the bottom in shallower waters) and bongo nets to a maximum depth of 250m (or to within 10 m of the bottom in shallower waters).  The vessel must also be able to accommodate a portable electric winch (up to a size of 1m x 1m x 1m) in a protected area of the deck for the deployment of specialized underwater cameras off the side of the vessel.
11. The vessel must have clean and sanitary cabins and beds for a minimum of 6 science staff in addition to the vessel crew. The vessel must have at least two functioning marine heads and showers that can be used in privacy.
12. The vessel must have a working washer and dryer for personal laundry.
13. The vessel must be able to provide the following scientific work areas:
 a. A level, suitably located, dedicated dry counter work space at least 0.6 X 1.2 m (2 X 4 ft) on the bridge for installation of DFO-supplied computers, peripherals, and connection to the ship’s GPS, sounder, and trawl mensuration electronics.
 b. Either an adequate conveyor system that can be used by science staff to sort the catches or a deck area which can accommodate at least a 4 square metres (36 sq ft) raised sorting bin with at least 1500 lb capacity.  The sorting bin must be a reasonable working height and be positioned so that at least three sides of the table can be accessed by staff while sorting catch and collecting biological samples.  Note that the Contractor must provide the sorting bin.
 c. A safe work area for weighing the catch.  This area must be located near both the sorting area (conveyor system or bin) and a method to discard catch (scuppers or conveyors).  This area must have space to secure both a laptop computer and an electronic balance provided by DFO (approximately 1 x 2 m (3 x 7 ft)).  The area must be either covered or large enough such that a protective housing (2 x 2 ft) for the laptop computer can be installed.
 d. A safe, covered work area of approximately 6 square metres (~64 sq ft) for collecting biological samples.  Specifically, there must be at least two (2) separate raised (at least 0.9 m (3 ft) feet high) work surfaces each at least 0.6 x 1.8 m (2 x 6 ft) where science staff can secure an electronic balance, a length measuring board, a laptop computer, and other sampling equipment as provided by DFO.
14. The vessel must provide three nutritionally balanced meals each survey day.  Meal times will be coordinated with the Chief Scientist to accommodate both the need to complete sampling work andthe time required to prepare meals by the cook.  Meals will be provided for all scientific personnel during all survey days. 

Vessel B Crew Experience

The Captain must have a minimum 5 years’ overall experience bottom and mid-water trawl fishing and a minimum of two years’ experience as master of a comparable-sized trawler in British Columbia waters.
The lead-fisher must have a minimum of five years’ experience in trawl fishing and in building, rigging, repairing, and operating trawls.  At leastone other fisher (fisher, engineer-fisher, or cook-fisher) must have a minimum of two years’ experience in trawl fishing and assisting in trawl gear repair.


Certifications

The Captain and crew of both Vessel A and Vessel B must possess all required Transport Canada, or maritime licenses or certifications applicable to the vessel and area of operation.
The Contractor must obtain and maintain all permits, licenses and certifications of approval required for the work to be performed under any applicable federal, provincial, state or municipal legislation.  The Contractor is responsible for any changes imposed by such legislation or regulation.  Upon request, the Contractor must provide a copy of any such permit, license or certification to DFO.
NOTE:  Costs associated with certifications are the responsibility of the Contractor.



4.  Applicability of the Trade Agreements to the Procurement

This procurement is subject to the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT).



5.  Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier 

A very similar requirement was recently solicited competitively with no responsive bids. Jim Pattison Enterprises Ltd. offers vessels that meet the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' requirements. To the knowledge of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Jim Pattison Enterprises Ltd. is the only company able to fulfill the requirement.



6.  Government Contracts Regulations Exception

The following exception to the Government Contracts Regulations is invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d): 
Only one person or firm is capable of performing the work.



7.  Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons 

The following exclusion and/or limited tendering reason is invoked under the section of the trade agreements specified:
- Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) - Article 506.12.b.



8.  Proposed Delivery Date 

The dates of deliverables are identified in Section 2 above. 
The period of the resulting contract will be from date of contract award to April 30, 2018.



9.  Name and Address of the Pre-identified Supplier

Jim Pattison Enterprises Ltd.
Foot of Gore Avenue
Vancouver, British Columbia V6A 2Y7  



10.  Suppliers' Right to Submit a Statement of Capabilities 

Suppliers who consider themselvesfully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities by e-mail to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.



11. Closing Date for a Submission of a Statement of Capabilities

The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is April 26, 2017 at 02:00 pm (PDT).



12. Inquiries and Submission of Statements of Capabilities 

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed by e-mail to: 
Michal Szczesniak
401 - 1230 Government Street, Victoria, BC V8W 3X4
Telephone: 250.507.0647
E-mail: michal.szczesniak@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca


Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority may then proceed with the award.  However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile transmission, on the covering page.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.