SOW Contract Boat 2021.docx

Statement of Work – USCG Aviation Training Requirements Coast Guard Air Station Detroit

1. Scope of Work: This Statement of Work describes the vessel and personnel required to support U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit, MI. The contractor will be responsible for providing and operating a vessel in support of the U.S. Coast Guard’s aviation training program on Lake St. Clair. Specifically, the equipment necessary for the vessel to support helicopter hoisting operations.

2. Background: One of the Coast Guard’s primary missions is search and rescue. In order for the Air Station to fulfill this mission, it is necessary to conduct helicopter hoists of equipment and rescue swimmers to/from underway vessels and to/from the water. These skill sets require both initial and proficiency training for Coast Guard pilots and aircrews. This training requires small boat support.

3. Vessel Description: The vessel shall be no shorter than 30 feet and no longer than 65 feet in length and shall have at least a 10 foot beam.

a. Other Characteristics: The vessel must be capable of navigating throughout Lake St. Clair and have the ability to easily recover personnel from the water. The minimum required speed for the vessel is 0 knots or “dead in the water”. The vessel must have the endurance to maintain 10 knots transit speed for a minimum of 3 hours; 15 knots for 3 hours is desired. The vessel must be capable of maintaining a heading of +/- 10 degrees at 5 knots while operating under a large helicopter producing 90 knots of rotor downwash in varying sea states and winds. An extremely shallow draft vessel is undesirable due to drift characteristics when subjected to rotor downwash. The vessel must have no permanent structures protruding higher than 20 feet above the water line which cannot be quickly stowed (e.g., antennas).

b. Required Deck Area: The minimum deck area is 50 sq ft on the aft (fantail) portion of the vessel to allow crew members to safely conduct operations. The deck area must be free of all obstructions and potential snag hazards.

c. Vessel Equipment: The vessel shall have, at a minimum, all equipment required by law including a fathometer, VHF-FM multiple frequency capable 2 way marine radio with specified frequencies/channels (13, 16, 21, 22, 23, 81, 83) and minimum ranges (20nm), a cell phone for secondary communications to the Air Station Detroit Operations Center, GPS and a fixed or portable long distance high beam search light.

d. Safety Equipment: The vessel shall be outfitted with a contractor furnished first aid kit and approved Type III personal flotation devices for crew and passengers. Survival suits shall be provided, by the contractor, as needed for crew members allowing them to operate on the weather deck / under rotor downwash continuously in cold temperatures. The contractor shall provide helmets, gloves, goggles, hearing/ear protection, for use by crew members during helicopter hoisting operations. Helmets configured with radio capabilities are desired to increase communication between the vessel and aircrew, but are not required. The crew should anticipate that static electricity charge from the helicopter will be encountered, and shall have the means to dissipate electrical charge through a grounding wand to the water or to the vessel.

e. Vessel Maintenance: The contractor shall operate and maintain the vessel, all equipment and systems in accordance with the original equipment manufacturer’s technical manuals and specifications, United States Coast Guard regulations and any applicable federal, state, and/or local regulations.

4. Personnel: All contractor personnel are required to be U.S. citizens or legal residents of the United States.

a. Point of Contact: The contractor shall provide a point of contact who shall be available to discuss work performed under this contract during the normal working day and periods of underway time. The point of contact shall be able to read, write, and speak English fluently.

b. Crew: Minimum vessel crew shall consist of a coxswain and two deckhands. Each of the crew members shall be capable of operation and maneuvering the vessel during helicopter hoist operations and any required rescue operations. The training vessel shall also be able to accommodate two Coast Guard members in addition to the required crew.

c. Coxswain: The coxswain shall be licensed, at a minimum, for the size of the vessel being operated, including the carriage of six passengers, shall be qualified in CPR and speak English fluently.

d. Deckhands: The deckhands shall be knowledgeable in shipboard operations, rigging for helicopter operations and deck seamanship. Training by the air station will be provided to the entire crew on hoisting operations and safety.

e. Qualifications: Contractor shall attain a minimum set of standard qualifications for each Coxswain and Deckhand approved by the Coast Guard prior to execution of the contract. Contractor shall maintain a list of qualified personnel. Unqualified personnel cannot perform unsupervised during hoisting operations.

5. Operational Requirements / Site: The schedule required and the operating site is as follows:

a. Normal Schedule: Contractor will provide services from 17 September 2021 through 15 December 2021, and 01 April 2022 through 16 September 2022 for base year with 1 option year covering 17 September 2022 through 15 December 2022, and 01 April 2023 through 16 September 2023. Due to seasonality and ice development on Lake St. Clair, these dates may be modified for safety of boat operations with concurrence from both the Contractor and Coast Guard Air Station Detroit. The contractor will be paid by the session, for a total of 60 sessions or until funds are expended, whichever comes first. Additional sessions may be added if funding becomes available. A session is defined as 2.5 hours of on scene time and will not include transit time to or from the dock. The session will start when the contract boat is on scene at the agreed place of training. On scene time commences either: (1) when the contract boat arrives at the specified training site and no sooner than the scheduled time, or, (2) when the Coast Guard arrives on scene and requests for training to commence, whichever happens first. Typical scheduling of sessions will be two per week, and should be coordinated at least a week in advance. Additional training sessions may be conducted at any frequency, to include multiple sessions per day to accommodate surge training requirements, on a schedule mutually agreed upon by the parties.

b. Area of Operation: The area of operations will be mutually agreed upon by both parties, within the confines of Lake St. Clair and outside of any areas where air traffic control of the airspace extends to the surface at all times of the contract period.

c. Official Passengers: The contractor shall accommodate the transport of Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers and/or other official persons designated by the Operations Officer during contracted sessions. Official Passengers must be able to drive and park at the embark/disembark location. This location must be on the western side of Lake St. Clair between New Baltimore and Grosse Pointe Park, preference is for docks near Selfridge ANGB.

d. Operational Log: The contractor shall maintain a log of all operations, which includes dates, location, time, duration and type of evolutions being performed. The log shall be passed to Air Station Detroit’s Asst. Operations Officer on a monthly basis within 5 days of the end of the month.

e. Communications During Operations: The contractor shall ensure that the vessel contacts Air Station Detroit’s operations watch stander at intervals not to exceed 30 minutes while engaged in aviation training services.

f. Weather Criteria: The vessel and crew must be capable of operating in sea states of up to 5 feet, sustained wind speeds of up to 35 knots. Visibility for operations must be at least 2NM.

g. Functions / Tasks: The contractor shall support training operations for the hoisting and/or delivery of equipment from government aircraft. These objects may be delivered directly to the contract vessel or dropped into the water for retrieval. The contractor shall also serve as an on scene search and rescue, and rescue assist during helicopter rescue swimmer deployment evolutions and helicopter approaches to the water. The training to be conducted will be both initial for new aviators/aircrews and proficiency maintenance for experienced aviators/aircrews.

6. Performance Evaluation Meetings: The contractor’s project manager shall meet when requested with the Operations Officer and Supply Officer (or representatives) during the duration of the contract to discuss performance problems and review contractor corrective actions. The operational log will also be used to verify the contractor’s timely arrival on station. If the contractor fails to meet the scheduled training events or is unable to complete the training activity, the frequency of not fulfilling the scheduled requirements may be the basis for a monetary deduction in the charter hire. Meetings will be held thereafter at intervals to be established by the Operations Officer and/or Supply Officer.

7. Communication Procedures: The government shall provide/assign VHF communication frequencies for contractor use. The contractor shall provide a cell phone on board for secondary communications with Air Station Detroit Operations Center.

8. Pre-Award Inspection and Evaluation: A successful quote by a potential contractor will require an inspection and underway/on-scene evaluation of performance characteristics in the Lake St. Clair area to ensure that the vessel meets the requirements indicated in the statement of work. Contractors shall anticipate background checks of personnel operating the vessel. Additionally, personnel operating the vessel will be encouraged not to discuss specifics of Coast Guard training characteristics or training performance with personnel outside the government.

9. Orientation Briefing & Training: The Coast Guard shall provide an orientation brief and initial training for key contract personnel prior to the contract start date. The orientation and training will include at a minimum; safe boating practices, vessel hoisting operations, rescue swimmer operations, dewatering pump delivery operations, etc. The Coast Guard shall also provide annual refresher training on the same items.

10. Invoicing for Service: A set payment will be established for a standard 2.5 hour training session, and a proportionally set rate for any hour, or fraction thereof, for training that extends beyond the training session. Training will end when the Coast Guard departs the scene. In the event the Coast Guard does not use the full scheduled session, the contractor will still be paid for a full standard training session. If training goes beyond the standard 2.5 hour session, it shall be billed in 30 minute segments at an equally proportionate rate of the 2.5 hour session. No single training session shall exceed five hours. Any unused training blocks at the end of the contract will be forfeited and the Government will retain any unused funds. (Reference FAR 12.403, Termination for the Governments Convenience.)

11. Training Block Cancellations: Operations, maintenance, weather, or other issues could force cancellations of previously scheduled training events. Any cancellation made by the Coast Guard one hour prior to the scheduled training block start time shall not be invoiced for service. The training block may be rescheduled and used without penalty at a later date. If cancellation occurs with less than one hour from the previously scheduled training block, the Coast Guard agrees to pay 50% of the cost of the cancelled training event. The remaining 50% portion of that cancelled training block may be rescheduled at a later time mutually agreed upon by both parties. If at any time the contractor is unable to meet previously agreed upon scheduling obligations, the training block time lost shall not be invoiced for service and may be rescheduled and used without penalty at a later date.

Any training block cancellation by the Coast Guard due to exceeding weather criteria or operational precedence (SAR divert, maintenance issue, etc.) after the scheduled event begins, shall be invoiced in 50% increments based on the portion of the scheduled training block utilized. If the cancellation is due to the contractor, the time utilized by both parties in the scheduled training block shall be billed at the same proportionate overage rate in 30 min increments as discussed in section 10. Transit time to or from the operating area shall not be invoiced. In either case, the remaining portion of that cancelled training block may be rescheduled at a later time mutually agreed upon by both parties.

12. Insurance: Contractor is responsible for ensuring they have adequate liability insurance coverage under FAR 28.306(a-2).