MARADVesselLease2026RFI.pdf

U.S. Department of Transportation

1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E.

Washington, D.C. 20590

MARITIME

ADMINISTRATION

Request for Information – Potential to Lease New RO/ROs Vessels

08/21/2026

1. Notice Type: Request for Information (RFI) The purpose of this announcement is to request additional industry feedback regarding a potential solicitation/acquisition. The Maritime Administration (MARAD) is issuing this RFI notice to determine the availability and technical capability of the U.S. maritime industry to deliver strategic sealift ships. The Government is seeking to identify all qualified sources to assess the industrial base’s capability to meet upcoming mission requirements.

The anticipated North American Industry Classification (NAICS) code is 532411, Commercial Air, Rail, and Water Transportation Equipment Rental and Leasing, or 336611 Ship Building and Construction.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. This RFI is being issued for information and planning purposes. It does not constitute a solicitation (Request for Proposal or Request for Quotations) or a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Furthermore, the Government is not seeking proposals at this time. Respondents to this notice are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred by responding to this notice. All costs associated with responding to this notice will be solely at the expense of the responding party.

Submissions may be reviewed by Government personnel and support contractors bound by appropriate non-disclosure agreements. Intellectual property, business confidential or other privileged information contained in responses to this RFI will not be distributed outside of the Department of Transportation, except as required by law, regulation, or court order. Any such information must be clearly marked at the bottom of each page.

2. Background Executive Order 14269, Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance, seeks to increase the U.S.

Armed Forces and Merchant Marine fleets, and maritime industry base, as quickly as possible.

A previous RFI, published at www.sam.gov, under Notice ID 06032026, provided significant information for MARAD to further identify the path forward for acquiring additional strategic sealift capability.

3. Requirement MARAD seeks further information on the potential to lease new RO/ROs vessels.

Key assumptions remain unchanged from the previous RFI

Leases will be for newly constructed, coastwise endorsement eligible, RO/ROs built in U.S. shipyards only.

Leases will be a Time Charter Charter period: 20 years per hull, structured as a series of consecutive charters that together total 20 years for each privately financed vessel Leases are expected to be for a 20-year fixed period or for five years with options for additional five-year terms.

MARAD desires an option to buy during or after the lease term.

Lease term and payments for the RO/RO vessels will be subject to congressional approval.

MARAD’s key characteristics for the RO/ROs

Maneuvering – Docking/Undocking without tugs o Bow Thruster – tunnel thruster in normal maneuvering o Stern Thruster – 1,000 kW Tunnel type o Flap type rudder for improved low speed maneuverability

Accommodation o Ship Mode – 48 including Master, CE, and 12 Officers and 20 crew members; 2 owner/VIP cabins; 2 single occupancy Cadet cabins; and 6 double occupancy cabins for riders o Food Storage for 60 days o Fresh Water Storage for 14 days o Gray Water Storage for 7 days, Black Water for 14 days

Design Primary Supporting Documents Completed o General Arrangement & Midship Section Drawings o Concept level calculations o Longitudinal Strength o Propeller and Rudder Design o Evacuation Analysis o Lightship Weight Estimate o Intact & Damage Stability o Electric Load & Auxiliary Machinery Sizing o List of Key Machinery size and potential makers o Outline of Performance Specification

Principle Dimensions o Length 211 m (692’) o Beam 32.3 m (106) o Depth 14.14 m (46’- 4”) o Design Draft 8.5 m (28’)

Propulsion, Speed & Consumption o Slow speed diesel 2-stroke – one main engines o Installed Power – 12,500 kW main engine o Full Speed – 19 knots with 15% sea margin – one engine o Cruising Speed – 18 knots with one main engine o Uni-fuel for simplicity and operation in the US ECA – MGO only

Range: 12,000+ miles at 19 knots

4. Government's Intended Action MARAD is requesting information on the interest of vendors to enter into a lease contract for the provision of RO/ROs to the Government. This information will be consolidated and MARAD will host an Industry Day to exchange and gather more information to make a lease versus buy decision.

5. Request for Capability Statements MARAD invites candid feedback on the overall acquisition strategy described in this RFI to deliver strategic sealift capability through the lease of not more than 10 vessels. Respondents are encouraged to identify any fundamental structural concerns or potentially disqualifying issues they foresee in this model — including the division of ownership across hulls, the consecutive-charter mechanism totaling 20 years per hull, and the interaction between private financing and the Government’s charter commitments — and to recommend alternative structures they believe would better achieve the Government’s objectives.

As part of your response, please provide feedback to the following questions:

1) Which of the notional military characteristics drive disproportionate cost, and what alternative(s) would you propose?

2) Is a five-year firm term with three additional terms financeable for a new-build asset? If not, what firm term would you (and your prospective lenders, if any) require?

3) How much residual commercial vessel value does the Government requirement set destroy, and how does that show up in your rate?

4) What termination liability or capital recovery protection would you (and your prospective lenders, if any) need at each option point?

5) What role would Title XI, the Capital Construction Fund, or other federal credit support play in your capital stack, and what would each be worth from a monetary or financial standpoint?

6) What debt tenor, coverage ratio, and equity return assumptions sit behind an indicative charter day rate?

7) What escalation mechanism, indices, and caps would you accept on the operating component over twenty years?

8) What vessel activation notice timeframes would be workable for you, and how would cost impacts do you foresee if you received shorter or reduced activation periods ?

9) How should war risk, hull and machinery risk, and liability insurance during military deployments be allocated and priced?

10) What readiness standards (days/year operational), routine maintenance/drydocking regimes, and off-hire parameters (conditions under which charter hire payments pause) would you and your lenders accept??

11) What interest would you have in regard to the ships’ ability to earn commercial revenue between activations, and would that drive down potential time-charter rates?

In addition, MARAD seeks information on industry’s specific experience in the following areas:

Acquisition of commercial ships on the commercial market.

Purpose of the acquisitions.

Direct experience managing reflags (if applicable, please provide the number of reflags currently in operation).

6. Company Information Please include the following in your response:

Company Name and Address (Include Parent Company, if applicable) Point of Contact (Name, Title, Email, Phone) CAGE Code and UEI Number Point of Contact Name and Contact Information (Phone Number and Email Address)

7. Submittal Instructions All responses should be sent electronically to the Government points of contact, identified below. Any responses submitted through different channels or to a different email will not be considered. When submitting a response, please use the email subject “Response to RFI – MARAD Roll-on/Roll-off Vessels.”

Points of Contact

Mark Burns, mark.burns@dot.gov Frank Wells, frank.wells@dot.gov

Submissions are limited to five pages, not including title pages, tables of contents, schedule, or acronym lists. All deliverables in response to this notice shall be submitted in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Project (Schedule) or Adobe formal and shall be unclassified. It is the sole responsibility of the submitter to clearly define to the Government what is considered confidential and/or proprietary. Respondents providing confidential and/or proprietary information shall clearly mark such information with appropriate labels. The Government will not evaluate submissions after the tenth page. Marketing materials are highly discouraged.

Submissions should use a minimum of 12-point font, single line spacing, and 1-inch margins.

All responses to this notice are requested no later than 5:00 PM PDT on Monday, August 31, 2026.

Disclaimer: The information contained herein is based on the best information available at the time of this notice, is subject to revision, and is not binding on the Government.

8. Small Business Consideration The anticipated North American Industry Classification (NAICS) code is 532411, Commercial Air, Rail, and Water Transportation Equipment Rental and Leasing.