Description
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Region Acquisitions Division-Kansas City office intends to award, on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), with University of North Carolina at Wilmington located in Wilmington, NC, Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) services, for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), Panama City Laboratory located in Panama City, FL. The University of North Carolina at Wilmington has been identified as the only known source that can provide the ROV services needed for use in SEFSC's research project that meets the Government's intended use. A Source Sought notice was posted on July 18, 2016 and closed on August 1, 2016. No responses were received. SCOPE NOAA Fisheries requires a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), and experienced ROV operators to conduct fisheries research in the US South Atlantic. A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) will be used to survey marine biota in several marine protected areas off the coasts of FL, GA, SC and NC at depths between 50 and 250 m. This survey will occur on a NOAA-owned research vessel. The vendor will supply the ROV, pilots, all ROV support gear and will provide NOAA scientists with video, still imagery, navigation and oceanographic data collected during the survey. The mission will be 16 days in duration. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The contractor must be available to board a NOAA or charter ship in Mayport, FL at 9:00 AM ET on June 6, 2017, the contractor must be fully mobilized and ready to conduct operations by June 7, 2017, and the contractor must work until June 22, 2017. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS The ROV must have an integrated navigation system with Hypack software, high definition video camera (1080 lines of resolution) with tilt function and 10:1 zoom lens, digital still camera with strobe and 10.0 megapixel file size, halogen floodlights, green and red parallel scaling lasers, and a depth and temperature logger. The vehicle must not draw more than 20A on a 380/440/480VAC circuit OR 50 AMPS ON A 208/240VAC circuit. The vehicle must have the option to be able to collect, store, and recover multiple biological samples in discreet containers with both a manipulator claw device and suction system. Copies of all video must have data overlays and be provided in DVD and hard-drive formats. Operators must be skilled in surveying coral habitats and have ability to hold vehicle on station for extended periods in currents up to 1.5 knots. Control station cannot occupy more than 50 square feet of drylab space and navigation and video feeds must be supplied to the vessel's bridge through cables up to 100 feet from the control station. The contractor is responsible for all media, cables, control equipment, the ROV, ROV umbilical, downweights, and launching and recovery hardware. NOAA will supply the vessel, electrical power, a crane with a SWL of 1200 pounds, berthing, and meals for two operators. Applicants will need to submit examples of previous work products and documented experience of operators. RESEARCH TO BE CONDUCTED The work to be done will consist of four (4) ROV dives per day. Each dive will be one and a half to two hours in duration and will conduct a visual survey of corals and fish assemblages in waters between 50 and 250 meters of depth. Biological samples will be collected at the discretion of the science observers. Continuous video recordings will be made during the dives and up to 150 digital still images per dive will be made of items of particular interest. There must be a means of overlaying a live audio track onto the recordings so the science party can narrate the dives in real time. DELIVERABLES All video and digital stills acquired by the ROV during the cruise. All video and digital still media must be georeferenced. SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION The UNCW has conducted this survey for NOAA annually since 2004. Their pilots have extensive knowledge of the protocols required for this mission. Their ROV meets all of the required technical capabilities described in the Statement of Work. This mission requires extremely precise navigation in very difficult conditions (high currents of the Gulf Stream at depths down to 1000 ft). The ability to locate and maneuver around fragile corals without damaging them is essential and the UNCW have demonstrated this ability on numerous occasions. NOAA is statutorily mandated to support the fishery management councils who are tasked with protecting and managing the nation's living marine resources. For the MPAs in the southeast US, this project is the only one solely devoted to providing these data to the relevant council, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. Substantial harm to the government will result if this contract is not awarded to UNCW. This project relies on a time series of data collected over many years in which each year is compared to all the others. Changes in methodologies (either in the vehicle collecting the data or the pilots operating the vehicle) will adversely affect the results and invalidate the data. ROVs from UNCW have collected all of the data for the previous 12 years of this project and changing vendors would put at risk all of this previous work. The day rate of the UNCW ROV is below commercially available daily rates. UNCW has proven to be the most efficient vendor that SEFSC has worked with on these types of missions. SEFSC recently completed more dives on a mission with UNCW than any other mission in their history. The coordination with the ship and the UNCW team's ability to understand and respond to the variable conditions experienced are the primary reasons for this success. Efficient vendors offer the greatest value to the Government in terms of cost.