N39430-21-R-2303 - Justification and Approval_Redacted.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING AND EXPEDITIONARY WARFARE CENTER

1000 23RD AVENUE

PORT HUENEME CA 93043-4301

IN REPLY REFER TO:

JA-20-013

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity.

The requiring activity is the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC

EXWC), Ocean Facilities Department (CIOFP6) Port Hueneme, California. The contracting activity is

NAVFAC EXWC Acquisition Department (ACQ74), Port Hueneme, California. The NAVFAC EXWC point of contact is Lissa Kobeissi, who can be reached through email at lissa.kobeissi@navy.mil or through phone at (805) 982-2479.

2. Description of the Action Being Approved.

Approval is sought to award a contract on a sole source basis to Lister Chain & Forge, Inc. (Lister), 3810

Loomis Trail Rd, Blaine, WA 98230-9106, for the procurement of fleet mooring chain and accessories in support of the United States Navy (USN) and other Department of Defense (DoD) agencies.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

This requirement is for the fabrication of fleet mooring chain and accessories. The contractor will provide all labor, material and equipment necessary to either FM3, ABS3, ABS R3, or ABS R3S grade specifications, as well as chain and anchor joining links to specification MIL-L-2710B. The size of items that should be available for production are 1.50, 1.75, 2.00, 2.50, 2.75, 3.50, and 4.00 inch. Specifications for each mooring component is as follows:

Additionally, the contractor shall own a facility capable of manufacturing mooring chain and accessories to the required specifications and certification in accordance with the American Bureau of Shipping

(ABS) for the manufacturing of mooring chain.

ITEM SPECIFICATION

CJL FM3, ABS3, ABS R3, ABS R3S, MIL-SPEC-DTL-2710B, MARQUIP

AJL FM3, ABS3, ABS R3, ABS R3S, MIL-SPEC-DTL-2710B

Chain, stud link FM3, ABS3, ABS R3, ABS R3S, MIL-C-24633-A

Spider Plate FM3

Pear Link FM3

Plate Shackle FM3

Ground Ring FM3

Swivel Shackle, Riser FM3

Anchor Chain Swivel ABS 3

Bolt Anchor Shackles MARQUIP or domestic equal

AJL Clamps ASTM A572 Grade 50 Hot Dipped Galvanized

The proposed action will result in a firm fixed price indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for a

60-month ordering period in the estimated amount of with a minimum guarantee of .

This value is based on FY18 and FY19 pricing of one (1) size of mooring chain and components and then scaled based on weight of the steel and level of effort required for manufacturing. The fleet mooring OPN program ended in 1994 when NAVFAC transferred the program to PACFLT and LANTFLT (who subsequently transferred it to CNIC). Existing chain shot sizes are dwindling and over 30 years old. One of the two capable chain manufacturers is no longer in business and 25 percent of their chains that were sent to a client failed the proof testing, although initially passed when manufactured. In addition, mooring systems in Guam and Sasebo are over 35 years old and some of the mooring components are of lower strength, as well as “before the creation of the fleet mooring program.” In other words, these mooring systems were grandfathered into the fleet mooring program when it was created. Some of these earlier installed moorings that were brought into the program based on the operational needs by the fleet have mooring components that are not made to the current fleet mooring specification, are of weaker strength, and need to be replaced with the current FM3 specification.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

Authority for the use of other than full and open competition, based upon one source or limited sources, is found at 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, “Only One Responsible Source and No

Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

NAVFAC EXWC CIOFP6 provides technical and logistical support services to the USN and other DoD agencies for mooring and berthing of fleet vessels. Mooring materials have been previously supplied under USN centralized funding buys and inventoried based on future fleet mooring and customer requirements. The Fleet Mooring Program still maintains several shots of mooring chain at the Port

Hueneme, CA inventory site; however, a high percentage of these shots are over 25 years old and/or made by a manufacturer that is no longer in business. Recent post proof testing of 1-inch size chain indicates the need for additional testing and re-coating of used mooring chain shots.

Lister is currently the only domestic ABS qualified chain supplier that can provide the required fleet mooring chain and accessories at the FM3 grade chain specifications. Although it seems that there are other ABS qualified companies, these companies are not domestic chain manufacturers and therefore not eligible for award pursuant to DFARS 252.225-7019 – Restriction on Acquisition of Anchor and Mooring

Chain. FM3 chain is required since the Navy uses the mooring chain for long-term submergence (design life of +15 years) and it is manufactured to work with sacrificial anodes. The chemical composition makes FM3 chain a more elastic steel than generally used commercial chain (ABS and DNV) for use of sacrificial nodes and to accommodate hydrogen embrittlement issues, since the chain in inventory can be used anywhere later on. ABS and DNV chains are not suitable for long-term submergence; oil companies replace these chains on a frequent basis from short-term use. In addition, ABS is for ship chain, which spends most of its design life in a chain locker onboard a ship and is only used for short durations in anchoring a ship.

Lister is the incumbent contractor on the current contract (N39430-16-D-1812) and the previous contract

(N39430-14-D-1450). Both contracts were solicited through full and open competition and resulted in only one acceptable proposal from Lister.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable.

A sources sought notice was posted to the System for Award Management (SAM) Beta Contract

Opportunities website on 1 April 2020 with a response date of 22 April 2020. An amendment was made to the notice on 21 April 2020 to extend the response date to 29 April 2020, since no responses had been received yet. The sources sought notice included a copy of the draft performance work statement (PWS) and stated the applicable North American Industry Classification (NAICS) Code 332111. The Program

Manager (PM), Steve Cohen, also sent the sources sought notice to the incumbent contractor, Lister, since it was the only qualified source he was aware of. A response was received from Lister on 29 April 2020;

this response was reviewed by the PM and determined Lister highly capable of fulfilling the contractual requirements for the fabrication of fleet mooring chain and accessories.

Based on these efforts, it was determined there is only one domestic company, Lister Chain & Forge, Inc., that has the capability to perform the work and meet the Government’s requirements.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

The Contracting Officer will determine that the cost to the Government of the supplies covered by this

Justification and Approval will be fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR Part 15. It is anticipated that all future task order awards will be determined fair and reasonable based on similar task orders that were awarded against this contract.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

For the reasons set forth in Paragraph 5, NAVFAC EXWC has no plans at this time to compete future contracts for the types of supplies/services covered by this document. If another potential source emerges, NAVFAC EXWC will assess whether competition for future requirements is feasible.