Published date: 9 December 2016

This notice was replaced on 21 March 2018

This notice does not contain the most up-to-date information about this procurement. The most recent notice is:

Awarded contract (published 21 March 2018)

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


Contract summary

Industry

  • Winches - 42141410

Location of contract

South East

Value of contract

£250,000 to £300,000

Procurement reference

UKSBSPR16200 - Containerised Seasoar Winch

Published date

9 December 2016

Closing date

20 January 2017

Contract start date

27 February 2017

Contract end date

30 June 2017

Contract type

Supply contract

Procedure type

Open procedure

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No


Description

National Oceanographic Centre (NOC) are seeking to procure a dedicated containerised winch system for Seasoar operations. The Seasoar winch that NMF-SS currently have in service was procured in 1990 and has now become prohibitively expensive to maintain and due to its age has a heightened risk of failure.

Seasoar is a towed undulating vehicle weighing approximately 350kg in air. The vehicle is towed on Rochester 7-H-314A 8.3mm 7 core conducting cable that is shrouded in an Indal Fathom Flexnose FA-478-350-1 segmented hard-fairing. The fairing is constrained every 2m with a swaged on aluminium ferrule. The wire has a MBL of 5T, but in our experience of destructive testing, usually breaks at 5.6T. NMF-SS use a WLL of 2T with a FOS of 2.5:1. The minimum bend diameter of the bare wire is approximately 0.5m and for the faired wire this is increased to approximately 1m.

The Seasoar vehicle is normally towed for between 6 hours and 7 days continuously with a ship speed of 8-9 knots. Seasoar undulates between the surface and approx. 400-500m depth below the surface. The Seasoar dive period is approximately 15 minutes and peak towing loads are usually approximately 1.5T. Vessel speed is reduced and Seasoar brought to the surface for recovery with normal loads of the order of 750kg.

It is the view of NMF-SS that successfully scrolling the faired tow-cable without damage will require careful design effort and is the hardest part of the project.


More information

Additional text

I would like to notify you that this procurement opportunity is currently live on Tenders Electronic Daily, a copy of the Notice is attached and, if you have not already taken the opportunity to register, instructions are detailed below on the process for registration and expression of interest via Crown Commercial Service's e-Sourcing Suite. This procurement will be managed electronically via the Crown Commercial Service's e-Sourcing Suite. To participate in this procurement, participants must first be registered on the e-Sourcing Suite. If Bidders have not yet registered on the eSourcing Suite, this can be done online at https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk by following the link 'Register for CCS eSourcing'. Please note that, to register, Bidders must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so. Full instructions for registration and use of the system can be found at http://ccs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/i-am-supplier/respond-tender Once you have registered on the eSourcing Suite, a registered user can express an interest for a specific procurement. This is done by emailing ExpressionOfInterest@ccs.gsi.gov.uk. Your email must clearly state: the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for; the name of the registered supplier; the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email. Crown Commercial Service (CCS) will process the email and then enable the Bidder to access the procurement online via the e-Sourcing Suite. The registered user will receive a notification email to alert them once this has been done. As a user of the e-Sourcing Suite you will have access to Emptoris email messaging service which facilitates all messages sent to you and from you in relation to any specific RFX event. Please note it is your responsibility to access these emails on a regular basis to ensure you have sight of all relevant information. For technical assistance on use of the e-Sourcing Suite please contact Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Helpdesk : Freephone: 0345 010 3503 email: supplier@ccs.gsi.gov.uk Training support to respond to a requirement is available to bidders at http://www.uksbs.co.uk/services/procure/Pages/supplier.aspx


About the buyer

Contact name

Allan Norman

Address

North Star House
North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1FF
England

Email

allan.norman@uksbs.co.uk