The Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas), a UK government agency, is seeking to place a contract for research vessel capabilities from April 2008.
Cefas is a scientific research and consultancy centre, which aims to be the prime source of high-quality science used by government and others in the UK and internationally to conserve and enhance the aquatic environment, promote rational management of its natural resources, and protect the public from aquatic contaminants.
The agency currently owns and operates a sophisticated, purpose-built ocean-going research vessel, the RV Cefas Endeavour. It also charters other vessels to undertake estuarine, shelf seas and deep-water oceanographic, environmental and fisheries surveys.
Cefas believes that its offshore and inshore research needs could be better met by contracting for research vessel capabilities rather than through vessel ownership. This is just one of the options Cefas is open to considering to ensure better value-for-money for taxpayers whilst providing the high-quality science delivery that is a core aim of the agency.
By using the Competitive Dialogue procurement procedure Cefas hopes to work with shortlisted suppliers to define an innovative solution to meet its needs. The procedure will provide the agency with a range of potential options, including continuing with contracting for vessel management services only, that will enable it to gauge and develop the best value-for-money solution.
Cefas’ assessment process will be based on a multi-stage approach. The first stage invites potential candidates to express an interest and complete and return a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) response by midday on 4 July 2007.
A contract notice was issued on 30 May 2007 in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), Document 2007-124973-EN:
http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:124973-2007:TEXT:EN:HTML
