Military Sealift Command

Military Sealift Command (MSC), a sub-agency of the Department of the Navy, procures vessel charters, ship maintenance services, equipment, and logistics support to sustain global naval sealift operations. The Command manages a portfolio of 134,226 federal contract awards totaling $48.48 billion in combined potential value since 1982, with $57.21 billion in combined dollars obligated across 6,842 distinct prime contractors. Annual award volume has declined: 4,226 awards in 2022, 4,156 in 2023, 4,029 in 2024, 3,127 in 2025, and 1,597 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent recorded award date is September 20, 2026.

Over the last five years, the prime contractor base is moderately concentrated by award count. Drew Marine USA Inc. leads with 3,011 awards and $62.2 million combined potential value, followed by Exxonmobil Marine LIMITED with 2,088 awards and $84.3 million, and PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc. with 1,800 awards and $50.5 million. These top five primes collectively hold 48 percent of recent awards. By potential value, concentration is highly fragmented — the top five primes account for only 1 percent of recent combined potential value, indicating that MSC's dollar volume is dispersed across numerous vendors transacting through vessel charters, time charters, and task-order vehicles where individual award values are modest relative to deal count.

MSC awards overwhelmingly unrestricted (88 percent of all awards with no set-aside). Small-business set-asides comprise 11 percent of the total, including total small business (11 percent), 8(a) competitive and sole-source awards (0.4 percent combined), service-disabled veteran-owned small business (0.1 percent), HUBZone (0.1 percent), and woman-owned small business (0.02 percent).

Current contract opportunities are concentrated in marine transportation and vessel maintenance. Recent solicitations include 90-day tanker time charters for fuel transport in the Western Pacific (multiple open procurements with October and November due dates), a 360-day dry-cargo time charter for USMC logistics in Okinawa (due November 2, 2026), an extended-term Jones Act tanker charter for the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast (pre-solicitation, due November 3, 2026), mid-term availability repairs for the USNS PATUXENT and USNS KANAWHA (both small-business set-asides, due December 1 and December 3, 2026 respectively), diving services for underwater inspection of the USNS SACAGAWEA (due October 26, 2026), and cofferdam installation services at Port Orange, Texas for the USNS NEWPORT (anticipated award December 4, 2026). The contracting office is Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia (471 East C Street, Norfolk, VA 23511).