SOLICITATION NOTICE
V -- Captian Sailling Vessel
- Notice Date
- 7/28/2008
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 483112
— Deep Sea Passenger Transportation
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Western Region Acquisition Division, 7600 Sand Point Way, Northeast, Seattle, Washington, 98115-6349
- ZIP Code
- 98115-6349
- Solicitation Number
- WRAD-8-43681
- Archive Date
- 8/26/2008
- Point of Contact
- Melvin N. Fondue, Phone: (206) 526-6043
- E-Mail Address
-
melvin.n.fondue@noaa.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This procurement is being procured in accordance with FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures. The office of NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service located in La Jolla, CA require a contractor to captain sailling vessel to record marine mammal acoustic data as part of Vaquita Expedition. The period of performance will be from date of award to 12/31/2008. Interested parties must respond to this announcement within fifteen (15) calendar days of its publication. All responses must be in writing and may be faxed to 206-526-6025 or email (melvin.n.fondue@noaa.gov). This is a simplified acquisition with an estimated value of less than $100,000. BACKGROUND Vaquita, the Gulf of California harbor porpoise, is the most endangered species of marine mammal. There is strong interest in monitoring the fate of vaquita but both acoustic and visual methods used in the past are not sufficiently precise now that abundance is down to around 150 individuals. Two new methods are being tested and calibrated with the earlier methods: autonomous acoustic bottom mounted devices and towed acoustic surveys using a sailboat. The research will use three research vessels, the Koipai Yu-Xd (MX), the RIV David Starr Jordan (DSJ, NOAA, USA), and a chartered Corsair 24 trimaran. II. PURPOSE The purpose of the 2008 Vaquita Expedition is to develop arid test new methods for acoustic monitoring of vaquita in the Northern Gulf of California. One of the components of the 2008 Vaquita Expedition is the Corsair Project, which would detect vaquita vocalizations using a passive hydrophone array towed behind a sailing vessel (Corsair). III. CONTRACT TASKS A. Tasks The sailing vessel to be used on Vaquita Expedition 2008 will be one 24' Corsair trimaran which will be chartered from a US Company. As Captain of the Vaquita Expedition 2008 sailing vessel, you would be responsible for: 1) Operating the vessel when underway; 2) The safety of all passengers; 3) Monitoring of weather prior to departure and throughout the day 4) Launching and docking the vessel as needed; 5) Assisting the acoustician to guard the safety of towed acoustic gear; 6) Learning Corsair handling from owners as needed; 7) Training three (3) acousticians in safe handling of the Corsair; 8) Maintaining communication with the other research vessels; 9) Ability to communicate with Mexican vessels in case of emergency; 10) Basic maintenance including - maintenance of the outboard and refueling - basic maintenance of the ships' hull, rigging, sails, and accessories - basic maintenance of the ships' electronics, excluding scientific equipment 10) Anchoring of the vessel when needed Scientific operations aboard the sailing vessel are expected to last up to eight (8) hours daily plus transit time which could be up to six additional hours. Scientific operations are expected to take place seven days a week, including holidays. The Charter Company has three owners, all of which plan to be Captain during some portion of the Expedition. When a co-owner and the contracted Captain are both aboard, vessel responsibilities need to be determined prior to sail. The period of time Captain Services will be needed is 15 September through 26 November, 2008. The sailing schedule will be highly dependent on weather. A working schedule will be six days of sailing followed by one day of rest. If weather prevents sailing, the calendar will be reset and the six days of sailing will start count anew with the first sail day after the weather day. Further, two 4-day rest periods will be provided during the study period; the timing of the rest periods will be dependent on weather and require approval by Chief Scientist. The Corsair project is experimental in nature and will require a flexible design that adapts to what works both in the wind conditions and also with vaquita, which are known to avoid boat engine noise. The number of people aboard will be as few as two (the Captain and one acoustician) and as many as five (additional acousticians during periods of development). Through the water speeds must be kept at less than 8 knots and as constant as possible, which will require considerable sailing skill. Because this is such a small operation, it is expected that the Captain and acoustician will work together to minimize fatigue, which will likely mean using the acoustician to do some boat driving/sailing. Because the Corsair is a specialized sailing craft, the Captain will.be responsible for training in safe use of the boat by the acoustician. Similarly, the Captain and acoustician will be expected to share duties needed for multi-night outings such as provisioning the boat with water, food and fuel and making of meals. The vessel is relatively new and simple, and should only require minimal maintenance. The captain's expertise is required for basic maintenance and to identify repair needs. Costs for materials associated with repairs will be covered by the owner(s); however, it is expected that the captain will perfonn all basic repairs. These will be addressed on a situational basis, and based on recommendations of the captain. The vessel is small and lightweight, and considerable importance should be placed on safety. The captain will be expected to monitor weather conditions, prior to departure, and throughout the day. The captain will be responsible for decisions to abort efforts based on safety concerns, and all personnel are expected to abide by these decisions. Given safe conditions and proper maintenance of the vessel, the captain will be expected to accommodate the needs of the scientists, within reason, in order to achieve the desired results. The scientists are expected to adhere to the decisions of the captain based on safety concerns and to put these decisions before the needs of the research. The scientists are expected to assist the captain in the basic cleaning of the vessel on a daily basis. Part of the Expedition will be spent working in the area of highest vaquita density in close proximity to the other research vessels. This area is close to San Felipe so frequent trips to rest and re-provision are anticipated and weather calls will always be the prerogative and duty of the Captain. The Corsair will be expected to spend at least several weeks working in shallow waters where the large research ship cannot work. Working this area will be most efficiently accomplished in several multi-day trips. Deliverables Vaquita Acoustic Dataset Collection: The Contractor will Captain the sailing vessel in a manner to ensure that the acoustic dataset component of the expedition will be collected. IV. GOVERNMENT-PROVIDED AND CONTRACTOR-PROVIDED PROPERTY The Government will contract the sailing vessel and provide all other equipment and supplies required for the contracted tasks above. The Government will provide the Contractor lodging in San Felipe and aboard the Corsair sailing vessel. A modest per diem will be included. The Contractor will provide personal clothes, such as pants, shirts, undergarments, socks, etc. The Captain will also provide personal effects that might be desired during this period. V. REPORTING REQUIRE11ENTS AND DELlVERABLES: The contractor shall be required to captain the Corsair in order to achieve the following Planned Results for Coordinated DSJ/Corsair Survey: • Provide distribution and group size estimation for shallow and low-density areas surrounding the Vaquita Reserve • Provide seafloor hydrophone researchers with opportunistic recordings near seafloor hydrophones from vertical array • Provide seafloor hydrophone researchers with opportunistic sound speed profiles near seafloor hydrophones for updating acoustic propagation models.0 Provide a preliminary description ofthe vocal behavior ofvaquita. **** The Westren Regional Acquisition Division, requires that all contractors doing business with this Acquisition Office be registered with the Central Contractor Registey (CCR) as of October 1, 2003. After this date, NO award can be made unless the vendor is registered in CCR. For additional information and to register in CCR please access the following web site: http//www.ccr.gov. In order to register with CCR and be eligible to receive an award from this Acquisition Office, all offerors must have a Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUN). A DUN number may be acquried free of charge by contacting Dun & Bradstreet on line at www.dnb/eupdate of by phone at (800) 333-0505
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- Place of Performance
- Address: California, San Diego, California, United States
- Record
- SN01624917-W 20080730/080728223606-e1397e77a6aacd86fbbf490419063341 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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