365-day Dry Cargo Time Charter

The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command, through its Norfolk office, has issued a sources sought notice for a 365-day dry cargo time charter of a U.S.-flagged vessel with specific technical and operational capabilities. The solicitation, identified as N32205-SS-N321-26-111 and posted on May 7, 2026, with a response deadline of May 13, 2026, is intended purely for market research and does not constitute a binding solicitation or commitment to award a contract. Respondents are required to provide detailed vessel specifications, including a minimum of 5,000 square feet of clear deck space, deck strength of at least 500 pounds per square foot, a 25-ton onboard crane, a maximum laden draft of five meters, and HazClass 1 certification for transporting ammunition or explosives. Also required are reefer plug capacity, fuel capacity and consumption rates, crew accommodation details, and daily charter rate proposals. The vessel must be Jones Act compliant, meaning it must be U.S.-built, owned, and crewed, and must be available for delivery and redelivery at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, within a proposed layday window of September 1–30, 2026. Respondents must also disclose their small business status under NAICS code 483111, which carries a size standard of 1,050 employees, and large businesses are required to indicate subcontracting opportunities available to small businesses. All submissions must be sent via email to the primary point of contact, Matthew Price, and must include a Unique Entity ID. No formal contract clauses, evaluation factors, payment instructions, or inspection protocols are included in this notice, as it is strictly for gathering industry capabilities and cost estimates to inform future procurement decisions.