1305M324D0006_SSJ_FE_Redacted_1.pdf

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SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN ACTION EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

USING SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

AUTHORITY: FAR 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901

REQUIREMENTS-23-0821

1. Agency and contracting activity. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisitions Division (WAD) and NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This is a sole source justification for a follow-on to Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract (1305M319DNFFR0008). A single-award IDIQ with a five-year ordering period for firm-fixed price (FFP) task orders is expected. The Government intends to solicit Agencias Universales SA (AGUNSA) (UEID: SGX2LM4BRCF5), an other-than-small foreign-owned business.

3. Description of supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the total estimated value).

The SWFSC’s United States Antarctic Marine Living Resources (U.S. AMLR) Program requires vessel-based and land-based logistical support for its ecosystem-based fisheries research activities in Antarctica from September 15, 2024 – September 14, 2029. The requirement includes receiving sea and air shipments; providing secure storage for a variety of scientific and field equipment; delivering food and fresh produce, gasoline, propane, medical grade oxygen, and other required supplies to the AMLR remote field station; personnel support in Punta Arenas, Chile, Santiago, Chile or other South American ports as needed; logistics vessel support for remote field camps (opening, closing and resupply) pelagic and oceanographic research; and other support as needed. Due to the proximity to the Antarctic Peninsula, logistical support services must be based in Punta Arenas, Chile.

The maximum ceiling of this IDIQ is and includes a five-year ordering period.

4. Statutory authority permitting the sole source (including brand name) acquisition.

X 41 U.S.C. 1901, using SAP up to $7.5M as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited. The contracting officer has determined the following circumstances justify the use of a sole source as supported below:

Only one source - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

AGUNSA is uniquely qualified to provide the Government’s contract needs due to their established infrastructure and networks in place in southern Chile, Argentina, and in the Antarctic. Due to the proximity to the Antarctic Peninsula, logistical support services must be based in Punta Arenas, Chile. Importantly, the requirements are to facilitate at-sea and land-based scientific research in specific areas of the Antarctic Peninsula. Therefore, AGUNSA is

REQUIREMENTS-23-0821

able to provide turn-key service for all of the Government's needs. This requirement relies heavily on existing infrastructure, the local connections, customs support, and language translation support. Providing these logistics services in this remote region is detailed and complex, where the results of the contractor directly impact the safety of humans. Due to the nature of this requirement, the government is at a higher risk of injury and safety for the scientists and AGUNSA is uniquely able to provide these complex services.

Locked, secured, environmentally controlled, bonded storage: A central need of the U.S. AMLR Program is to move a suite of scientific and logistical equipment and gear to and from La Jolla, California (CA) to designated sites in the Antarctic each year. This necessitates oceanic shipping, staging and storing in Punta Arenas Chile, and transport south to the Antarctic, typically on oceanographic research vessels. First, AGUNSA is a South American shipping company and has, for 30 years, provided shipping services.

Second, AGUNSA owns both indoor and outdoor Chilean-Customs-Bonded storage space with capacity to accommodate the Government’s seasonal storage needs. Such bonded storage allows AMLR to stage and transition equipment in a “pass through” status en route to the Antarctic such that SWFSC is not charged Chilean import and export fees, saving substantial amounts of money annually. There is not currently any other vendor that has such bonded storage infrastructure available. Third, AGUNSA has the capability to start work immediately and safely transport and maneuver the Government’s equipment and supplies from storage to Antarctic vessels. Finally, AGUNSA has the necessary knowledge to correctly and accurately process the complex paperwork to ensure timely processing of Chilean Customs and marine port authority approvals. This is a benefit that is essential to mission success. Delays in this area of the requirement could directly impact the mission.

Vessel support network: The U.S. AMLR Program works with other U.S. and National Antarctic partner organizations, when possible, to efficiently meet its seagoing transport needs. However, due to substantial reductions in support from other organizations, such as the National Science Foundation, other support options are more limited than ever.

AGUNSA has extensive regional networks of internal and external vessel operators. They have a demonstrated ability to locate safe and capable vessels for challenging Antarctic work and negotiate favorable rates. SWFSC does not know of any other vendor that has the experience and existing networks to reliably provide this need to the Government, specifically, in this region of the world.

Intra-Antarctic support network: Similarly, AGUNSA has curated relationships with private and National Antarctic operators to provide intra-Antarctic transportation when needed, including flights and helicopter operations. These unique relationships benefit the Government by providing safety assurance for the lives of NOAA staff as Antarctic transportation is highly dangerous and complex.

Field team support: There is a multitude of support needs the field teams encounter when they are in Chile en route to the Antarctic. Examples include arranging an emergency dentist appointment, COVID testing, finding replacement Antarctic cold weather specialized gear, and repairing a broken all-terrain vehicle. The variety of support is widespread and there are no known vendors willing to provide this level of support in this area of the world.

The risks are high if performance is not successful. Given the limited field season, unpredictable weather and the required protection of life and property, a reliable offeror who can immediately react to the program’s needs is required.

6. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by FAR Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

Efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited to as many potential sources as practical w performed. On April 30, 2024, a source sought notice was posted to SAM.gov for vendors to express their capability to perform the requirement. On May 15, 2024, two small business responses were received from Sandford Federal (SF) and Polar Field (PF). The results of the source sought notice are detailed in Section 8 below. A notice of intent to sole source will be posted as required by FAR Subpart 5.2 prior to issuing the solicitation.

7. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer will follow the procedures set forth in FAR 13.106-3(a) to determine that the costs to the Government are fair and reasonable, including comparison of the proposed prices with prices found reasonable on previous purchases and comparison to the independent Government estimate.

8. Description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

The sources sought notice received two small business responses on May 15, 2024, Sandford Federal (SF) and Polar Field (PF). On June 7, 2024, the SWFSC team reviewed each submission and provided their subject matter expertise on whether the interested offerors possessed the capability to perform the requirement. A high-level summary of SWFSC’s assessments are below:

The SWFSC project management team assessed SF’s capability statement and found that SF does not possess the capability to perform the required services. SF did not demonstrate any experience with international projects or polar waters. Their submission indicates their staff is “fluent enough in English to carry conversation with” which falls short of the key criteria for technical translation. Additionally, SF did not demonstrate the capability to have assets in place to support core logistics including bonded storage, port and customs process support.

SF was not found to be capable of providing the required services.

The SWFSC project management team assessed PF’s capability statement and found that PF does not possess the capability to perform the required services. PF’s capability submission expresses the desire to connect scientists with logistics and expertise support services in Arctic environments, however, that is not the capability SWFSC is asking for. SWFSC has over 40 years of internal expertise, and currently performs the services PF is stating. The current need requires an offeror to have the capability to safely provide logistics services and the assets to support local networks, bonded storage, port and customs process support in Puntas Arenas, Chile, which was not shown in this submission. PF was not found to be capable of providing the required services. The NOAA Small Business Administration

Procurement Center Representative (SBA PCR) concurred with the sole source approach on July 15th, 2024.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of a sole source (including brand name), such as:

All facts and supporting information are contained herein.

10. List of the sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

As mentioned in Section 6, two small businesses expressed a written interest in the acquisition, SF and PF. See Section 8 for detailed information regarding their capability determination.

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

The agency will continue to conduct market research and utilize source sought notices when future needs arise.