QA2_TAGS_RFP_16R3100.pdf

MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND

N32205-16-R-3100 Operation of the Oceanographic Fleet (T-AGS)

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS #2

The following are answers to questions received from potential offerors. The answers provide clarification only and DO NOT constitute an amendment to the solicitation.

1. 25-May-16; L-8 Sec. #A.(i); Audited/Certified Financial Statements required

Offeror has been in operation for less than 1 year as a separate entity, therefore audited financials will not be available at time of bid submission. Will current Financial Statement be sufficient, to be replaced by audited financials prior to 1st vessel delivery?

ANSWER: IAW Section L-8(A)(i) “Offeror must furnish evidence of adequate financial resources to perform the contract or the ability to obtain such resources. For the purpose of this section, adequate financial resources is an amount equal to the total value of 45 days of per diem payments in FOS, plus the necessary resources to conduct one major availability in the amount of $2,500,000.” Audited financial statements are required by final proposal revision.

2. 25-May-16; L-8 Sec. #A.(j); Government-approved purchasing & accounting systems

Are these systems required to be in place at time of bid, by date of award, or prior to 1st vessel delivery?

ANSWER: C-3.7 MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEM/ACCOUNTING SYSTEM will be revised in a forthcoming amendment to clarify submittal of proposed system as follows:

C-3.7 MANAGEMENT CONTRTOL SYSTEM/ACCOUNTING SYSTEM. The contractor shall develop and maintain effective management controls that will monitor and ensure effective management of reimbursable expenditures, federal supply system procurements for appropriate billing codes and approvals. The proposed system will be submitted with the contractor’s offer and will be incorporated into this contract. This system shall monitor costs for reimbursable expenses, all federal supply system procurements (to include proper fund code and billing requirements). The system shall allow for the contractor to receive and analyze each ship’s requisitions and enter the amount of reimbursable requisitions on the monthly cost reports. The system shall also enable the contractor to collate the requisitions and match them to the DFAS Register 6 reports and the monthly DFAS DEF error listing (unmatched expenditure report) when forwarded by MSC personnel for reconciliation on a monthly or as needed basis. The contractor shall notify the COR of any deviations in cost from the industry standards, unauthorized procurements and billings from the federal supply system, and provide auditable information when requested by the Government. The system shall segregate and track reimbursable expenses from costs incurred in the fixed price portion of the Contract.

Refer to Section L-8(A)(j) for further information on how to submit budget and financial management information.

3. 25-May-16; L-8 Sec. #C(b); Small Business Participation Plan If Offeror is classified as a Small Business Entity via SAM.gov registration, is a Small Business Subcontracting Plan required?

ANSWER: Small Businesses are not required to provide a Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

ALL offerors are required to provide a Small Business Participation Plan, this is different from the Small Business Subcontracting Plan. Pease refer to Section L-8(C)(b) on page 171 of the

RFP.

4. 25-May-15; All Sections; U.S. Citizenship Requirement What are the conditions under which Offeror can employ and utilize Foreign National staff members?

ANSWER: IAW Section C-1.7.2 of the RFP “The Master, Officers, and entire crew shall be U.S. citizens and must be literate in English and shall meet requirements of the USCG and STCW, and shall possess current, valid USCG documents commensurate with the tonnage and classification of the ship to which they are assigned.” Given the requirements of the contract, under no conditions can the offeror employ and utilize Foreign National staff members.

Are only Key Personnel required to be U.S. Citizens? Can you define Key Personnel?

ANSWER: Key Shipboard Personnel include the “Master, Chief Engineer, Chief Mate, First Assistant Engineer, Medical Department Representative (MDR), and Independent Duty Storekeeper (SK)” IAW with Section C-1.7.8.1 of the RFP. “Key shore-based personnel shall include at a minimum five Port Engineers, the Life-cycle Engineering Manager, the primary Port Captain/POC for Operations, the Property Administrator, and the Primary Point of Contact for Management/Contracting” IAW Section C-3.4.2 of the RFP.

5. 25-May-15; All Sections; Requirement for plans/procedures/systems to be in place Outside the above-stipulated items in Section L, and unless otherwise expressly stated in the package, do all have to be in place at time of bid, or can some be in place at time of award or at some other stage on the timeline to vessel handover?

ANSWER: See Section F-5 of the RFP for the required schedule of deliverables under this contract upon award.

6. Is the training in C-1.8.19 required for deck officers that are already serving on the Waters or

TAGS?

ANSWER: This applies to new Masters, Program Managers and Port Captains.

7. C-5.8.1 states that all consumables to support Sponsor survey operations are non-reimbursable. If this is correct, please provide a list of expected consumable items to be purchased.

ANSWER: See TM Section 15.23.4 for list of consumables.

8. In order to understand the phase in costs that need to be included in our firm fixed price can you please give a better estimate of the delivery schedule including dates and locations?

ANSWER: See Section C-3.5.1 for crew phase-in/vessel turnover, as well as Section C-1.7.11.4.

9. C-2.7.4.2 Crew Retention. The contractor shall retain sufficient personnel during overhauls and other availabilities when the ship is in Repair Availability (RAV) Status to accomplish preventive maintenance as required by SAMM, monitor repairs and alterations, and to provide for required in-port security. At a minimum, the contractor shall retain ship’s crew as specified in TTM/WTM-19. The contractor shall be responsible for all wages, lodging, subsistence, local transportation, and other incidental costs related to the retention of these crewmembers in RAV status. The contractor shall presume the ship will be unavailable at all times to lodge and feed the retained crew.

Question - Are the TAGS vessel UWILD eligible and is it the government’s practice to conduct a UWILD for the intermediate DD?

ANSWER: Normal practice is to dock during intermediate survey for Sponsor underwater hull work, as well as, standard maintenance and vessel recoating. We do not UWILD the vessels.

10. C-3.8.1 Authorized Personnel and Computer Access. In addition to the key shipboard personnel, the Ship Communication Officer (SCO), the ship's remaining Deck Officers, Engineering Officers and Chief Steward that require access to the Local Area Network (LAN) with a Government computer account, shall maintain, at a minimum, a favorably adjudicated NACLC investigation and submit a SAAR-N form to MSC.

Question – Since the SAAR-N form must be signed with a CAC digital signature, do all these people also require a CAC (C.3.8)?

ANSWER: Anyone required to have access to the network will be required to have a CAC.

11. 5.2.1 Shore Based Spares

a. Warehousing of shore-based spares (SBS). The Government may require the contractor to obtain warehousing facilities on a reimbursable basis to support the retention of SBS with long-lead and unique requirements to these vessels and their systems. If required, the COR or authorized Approving Authority will notify the contractor.

c. The Government will not reimburse the contractor for the costs associated with obtaining property insurance for the SBS or for the warehouse facility. In accordance with Section I, FAR clause 52.245-1 (AUG 2010), (h)(1), the contractor assumes the risk of, and shall be responsible for, any loss, damage, destruction, or theft of Government property upon its delivery to the contractor as Government-furnished property. As such, it shall be at the contractor’s discretion to obtain property insurance for the SBS or for the warehouse facility necessary to store and secure the SBS. The contractor shall be responsible for any costs associated with obtaining property insurance for the SBS and/or warehouse facility.

Question: How can we price insurance for a contingency of unknown liability? What is the estimated maximum value of the shore based spares where we may be required to store?

ANSWER: This requirement will be removed in a forthcoming amendment.

12. C-5.5.1.1 Shipment and Receipt of U.S. Munitions List and ITAR Items.

Question: Is the winning bidder required to hold an ITAR permit? If so, for what categories?

ANSWER: No.

13. SF 33, Box 9: We respectfully request an extension of the due date for Submission of Offers to be July 1, 2016.

ANSWER: Proposal submission due date has been extended to 12 July 2016. See Solicitation Amendment 1.

14. Section B-3: Will there be a chart (by Reimbursable Category and Fiscal Years) added to the Section B-3 that includes a breakdown of the estimated reimbursables to enable offerors to better determine subcontracting opportunities?

ANSWER: No. There is a table of estimated reimbursables in Section L-8(C)(b) Table 1.

Further breakdown will not be provided.

15. C-1.1.10 This section states that the contractor will be reimbursed “for customary agent fees in conjunction with the husbanding of the vessel.” However Section 1.1.8.1 states that the government will not reimburse Contractor “for expenses incurred by the Contractor for services rendered for the convenience of the vessel, its crew . . .” These two statements appear to conflict, since husbanding of a vessel would consist of many services for crew, as well as for sponsors and embarked personnel. Please clarify.

ANSWER: The intent of the statement in C-1.1.8.1 is to ensure that transportation services and other conveniences to the crew while in port were not reimbursed by the government. Section C-

1.1.10 clearly states that fees associated with husbanding and agent support are directly reimbursable.

16. C-1.3.3.1 Is night meal service applicable in all Statuses (FOS, ROS, RAV)?

ANSWER: Night meals will only be required upon request of the Sponsor due to night operations and while in FOS. This requirement will be updated accordingly in a forthcoming amendment.

17. C-1.4.8 Is the replenishment of medical supplies (with adequate levels varying based on vessel status) throughout the course of the contract a reimbursable expenditure?

ANSWER: Yes, see Section C-1.4.8 of the RFP.

18. F-3.(c). This section talks about reimbursement of direct expenses including wages and subsistence “for additional crew remaining on board . . . “ during ROS status. What does the term “additional crew” mean, since regular ROS crew is not pre-defined in TM-19?

ANSWER: The intent is to reimburse the Contractor for ROS crew turnover and travel associated, as well as wages, fringes, etc.

19. G-3.3 This section states that fixed price per diem invoices and crew shortages by billet should be submitted every 15 days. Earlier in the RFP, in section C-1.7.7, it was stated that crew shortages should be credited to the government on a monthly basis. Please clarify.

ANSWER: Invoicing should be submitted every 15 days. Credits should be submitted monthly.

These are two separate requirements.

20. L-7(i) Section states that when there is a conflict, the original paper copy shall take precedence.

As currently written, there are no required paper copies; everything is through an electronic copy on CD/DVD. Please explain what paper copies are required if any.

ANSWER: No paper copies are required. Section L-7(i) will be revised in a forthcoming amendment as follows:

21. L-7(m.) Should there be a correction to the Attachment referenced in this section? The RFP was released with Attachment B-1 not Attachment B.

ANSWER: References will be updated in a forthcoming amendment.

22. L-8(l.) MSC has not posted the wage determination for the USNS WATERS. Our union will not provide a CBA until they receive the wage determination. Without the Wage Determination, the union is unable to confirm labor packages that will meet the requirements of the Service Contract Act.

ANSWER: Wage determinations for the USNS WATERS will be provided in a forthcoming

23. M-1.A. This section’s second paragraph is very confusing. This section states that the government can award based on “a proposal with superior ratings even though it may result in a higher price to the government.” There is not any rating called “superior” and no definition of what makes a proposal “superior” Because the Technical and Small Business Participation Ratings are basically a Pass/Fail process, that leaves only Past Technical Performance and Price to be used in the final evaluation process. If two or more offerors are both judged Acceptable in their Technical and Small Business Participation Ratings and they are both rated the same in the Past Technical Performance (for example, if both were rated “Relevant” in the Relevancy ratings and “Substantial Confidence” in the Confidence assessment), then would the lower priced proposal automatically be declared the winner?

ANSWER: Superior is defined as higher quality. The superior proposal would be the proposal rated highest among all offerors using the tradeoff basis in accordance with section M-1(A).

Price is a tradeoff factor. If two or more proposals are determined acceptable for the Technical and Small Business Participation Factors, and the proposals are given the same overall Past Technical Performance Rating (assuming these proposals received the highest overall Past Technical Performance rating of all offers submitted), then the price factor would determine the awardee.

24. Table 1 under Section L-8.C.(b) provides the Government’s lump sum reimbursable estimates.

Can these estimates be broken down and provided in a line item format which corresponds to the expenditure types listed in the Table of Expenditure Types provided under Section B-10 of the solicitation?

ANSWER: There will be no further breakdown of reimbursable expenses. See Section L-8(C)(b) for reimbursable expenses by year.

25. Does the Government anticipate directly funding any reimbursable expenses or other items during the contract period? If so, can these directly funded expenditure types be provided together with the estimated amounts?

ANSWER: See answer to Question 1 above. See Section G-7 of RFP for reimbursement procedures.

26. Section B-7 – Can you please confirm that crew wages, fringes and provisions are reimbursable during ROS periods?

ANSWER: Yes, per Section B-7 of the RFP “Crew wages/fringe costs for Reduced Operating Status (ROS) will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis prior to a ship entering ROS, and will be based on specific crew requirements.”

27. Section B-7 – Can you please confirm that indirect costs such as G&A and profit are to be included with the ROS price?

ANSWER: Yes, per Section B-7 of the RFP “The prices for ROS will only consider direct costs for expenses other than wages and fringes (specifically costs for port engineers/port captains, insurance and other ship expenses), as well as indirect costs, G&A and Profit.”

28. Section B-8 – Can you please confirm that crew wages, fringes and provisions are reimbursable during RAV periods?

ANSWER: Yes, per Section B-8 of the RFP Crew wages/fringe costs for Repair Availability (RAV) will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis prior to a ship entering RAV, and will be based on specific crew requirements.”

29. Section F-3.(c) states the Government will reimburse total wages, subsistence and transportation costs for “additional crew” during ROS. Can you please define the term “additional crew?”

ANSWER: The intent is to reimburse Contractor for crew change outs (travel and transportation) during ROS periods.

30. RFP at F-5 Deliverables says Key Shore Based Personnel resumes are to be submitted with the proposals. Section L does not advise on where or how the resumes are to be submitted. Please advise if you want the resumes with proposals (or later with FPRs).

ANSWER: Section F-5 of the RFP will be revised in a forthcoming solicitation to clarify Key Shore Based Personnel resume submission. See C-3.4.2 and C-3.4.6 for details.

31. DOL Wage Determinations have not been provided for USNS WATERS in attachment B-1, nor has the same information been provided for the unlicensed union, SIU, for any of the vessels. In several places the RFP states that wages and fringes are to be paid in accordance with the DOL Wage Determination Attachment B. See H-12 Limitation to Service Contract Applicability which states that the SCA is not applicable for forward deployed personnel OCONUS, but that wages and fringes must not be lower than the DOL WD at Attachment B

ANSWER: Wage determinations for the USNS WATERS will be provided in a forthcoming

32. Would MSC extend the bid submission due date from the current 17 June 2016 to a later date, say 24 June 2016 to allow time for you to issue the Attachment B information, and for the unions to revise their Collective Bargaining Agreements accordingly?

ANSWER: Proposal submission due date has been extended to 12 July 2016. See Solicitation Amendment 1

33. After the release of the forthcoming Amendment, will a conformed copy of the Solicitation eventually be provided to industry?

ANSWER: Yes, a conformed copy of the solicitation will be posted to FEDBIZOPS.

34. SF 33, Box 9: We respectfully request an extension of the due date for Submission of Offers to be July 1, 2016. Please provide confirmation of the extension via Amendment to the Solicitation.

ANSWER: See answer to question 3 above.

35. C-1.7.11.4 If the new Contractor has the same union affiliations as the incumbent ship manager, and the new Contractor intends to employ the crew previously employed by the incumbent ship manager, then is familiarization at Vessel Delivery as described in C-1.7.11.4 required for the shipboard personnel?

ANSWER: Per Section C-1.7-11.5 of the RFP “The familiarization period shall not be necessary if an Offeror has proposed the same personnel/crew who are currently under contract and assigned to the ship.”

36. C 2.7.4.2 For RAV crew retention, section C-2.7.4.2 states that “At a minimum, the contractor shall retain ship’s crew as specified in TTM/WTM-19. “. Since TTM/WTM-19 only includes a crew complement for FOS, we conclude that all FOS crew members are expected to be retained in RAV. Is this a correct assumption?

ANSWER: No. Per TTM/WTM-19 – “ RAV/ROS Manning. The Contractor and Government will mutually agree upon the manning requirements for ROS and RAV situations. The Contractor shall consider RAV as part of the fixed price RAV per diem rate. Additional augmentation of the RAV is addressed in C-1.7.1.”

The manning dictated in table of Section 19 is only for FOS crew. The Contractor is responsible for negotiating RAV and ROS manning with the Government in those situations to cover STCW and PM requirements. Section F-4 gives more detail on the contract’s intent for RAV status.

Section C 2.7.4.2 will be revised in a forthcoming amendment to clarify RAV crew retention as follows:

C-2.7.4.2 Crew Retention. The contractor shall retain sufficient personnel during overhauls and other availabilities when the ship is in Repair Availability (RAV) Status to accomplish preventive maintenance as required by SAMM, monitor repairs and alterations, and to provide for required in-port security. At a minimum, the contractor shall retain ship’s crew as specified in TTM/WTM-19. The contractor shall presume the ship will be unavailable at all times to lodge and feed the retained crew. If crewmembers in addition to these are required for special shipyard work or evolutions, the contractor shall submit a request to the COR or authorized Approving Authority with full justification for their retention. This request shall be submitted at least fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the start of the availability.

Reimbursement for the cost of these additional personnel is addressed in Section C-1.7.1.4.

37. Section C-2.7.4.2 states that “the contractor shall be responsible for all wages, lodging, subsistence, local transportation, and other incidental costs related to the retention of these crewmembers in RAV status.” Yet the Pricing Form C-Basic Pricing Data has “N/A” marked in the places where crew wages and fringes and provisioning would be priced. Please clarify.

ANSWER: See answer to question #8 above.

38. L-6 Request additional time to submit questions regarding the solicitation.

ANSWER: See answer to question #3 above.

39. L-8(C)(a), Small Business Participation Plan – The contractor must provide a percentage of the total effort to be performed by large and small businesses. Does “total effort” refer to the estimated contract price (evaluated proposal) or does total effort refer to the total amount to be subcontracted?

ANSWER: Total evaluated contract price.

40. TM Section 21 - When a vessel is “M&R” as defined in Technical Manual section 21, does it usually remain in FOS status or RAV status?

ANSWER: As noted in TM Section 21 – “The M&R days listed above include two 18-day upkeep periods in FOS. COI inspections will be scheduled to coincide during one of the upkeep periods. One of these 18-day upkeep periods may be substituted for a regulatory 30-day RAV period, when required.”

41. Attachment Form A-D Form D-1 - The Per Diem Summary only has estimated days for FOS rates, even though we are required to provide ROS and RAV rates. Yet Operating Tempos in Technical Manual - Section 21 shows other statuses are expected. What will be the evaluation criteria for the ROS and RAV rates, if they will have no value in the notional schedule in the proposals submitted?

ANSWER: Although not included in the total evaluated price, the ROS and RAV rates will be evaluated as a part of the price evaluation. The FOS, ROS and RAV rates must be found fair and reasonable in order for an offeror to be eligible for award.