Dry Cargo Voyage Charter

The U.S. Department of Defense, through the Military Sealift Command office in Norfolk, Virginia, is soliciting proposals for a Dry Cargo Voyage Charter under solicitation N3220526R6117, a Total Small Business Set-Aside for NAICS code 483111, restricted to small business concerns. The contract requires the provision of a vessel to transport Department of Defense military cargo, with performance primarily in California, though exact loading and discharging ports are to be specified by the offeror in the DRVVOY boxes. The performance window is defined by proposed Laydays, including Commencing and Cancelling dates, with loading and discharging governed by F.I.O.S.S. F.I.O. ex S.S. LINER TERMS and calculated in twenty-four-hour days weather permitting. The vessel must meet Military Sealift Command reporting standards and provide detailed deck plans, cargo handling equipment listings, load capacity data, and HAZMAT stowage constraints. Security is a critical component; offerors must ensure the vessel can accommodate up to 12 armed force protection personnel and provide Contracted Security (CS) teams certified under ISO 28007, with all personnel holding TWIC cards or having undergone U.S. government terrorism screening. These teams must be prepared to defend against piracy, VBSS forces, suicide vessel attacks, and sabotage using only government-approved firearms and ammunition. The contract mandates compliance with cargo preference policies, favoring U.S.-flagged vessels and prioritizing those with recent U.S. shipyard usage through a two-tiered category system in award selection. The evaluation methodology follows a Lowest Price, Technically Acceptable (LPTA) approach, with mandatory pass/fail gates for responsibility determination, small business subcontracting plans (required for large businesses), and compliance with classified requirements. Offerors must submit proposals via email or fax in PDF format, signed electronically or by scan, with minimum requirements including a vessel name, price, and signature; files must not exceed 20MB. All submissions must include UEI, CAGE Code, and TIN, and be registered in SAM. The contract incorporates FAR 52.212-4 as the core commercial terms, supplemented by dedicated voyage charter addendums and clauses including Government Property (Alternate I), Stop-Work Order, Inspection of Services, Preference for U.S.-Flag Vessels (Alternate I), and DFARS 252.247-7026 for