Ship Manager Reporting Tool - Market Research

The Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) is conducting market research for the maintenance and licensing of the Ship Manager Reporting Tool, a custom data extraction and reporting application that supports the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) program. This tool serves as a critical system for MARAD's contract oversight, maintenance management, business planning, and execution monitoring, currently providing 20 custom reports used throughout the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) budget cycle and program operations. Key contract requirements include maintaining application compatibility with the latest Nautical System Enterprise (NSE) software, updating reports based on MARAD's Business Planning Process Improvement Team requests, and potentially developing new reports as needed. The contractor must also meet stringent personnel security requirements, including DOT security and privacy awareness trainings, employee eligibility verification, and necessary credential acquisition. This pre-solicitation notice was posted on November 14, 2025, with a due date of November 21, 2025, for responses to the market research technical questions that assess vendor capabilities, experience, subcontracting needs, and commercial availability of services.

This procurement carries no set-aside designations and is being conducted as a civilian acquisition under the Department of Transportation. The current incumbent contractor is the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), which operates the underlying Nautical System Enterprise platform that the reporting tool integrates with; however, the market research documents do not disclose specific award values or budget ranges for the contract. The opportunity is classified under NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services) and PSC 7A20 (IT and Telecom - Application Development Software), indicating that respondents should be qualified software and engineering service providers capable of maintaining and enhancing database reporting applications. While no explicit timeline for service performance is provided in the pre-solicitation notice, the annual licensing structure and reference to fiscal year budget cycles suggest ongoing, recurring contract work. Interested vendors should note that the market research technical questions form serves as the primary mechanism for assessing qualified potential bidders prior to the formal solicitation release.