DRY CARGO VOYAGE CHARTER

The U.S. Department of Defense, through the Military Sealift Command Norfolk, is conducting market research via a Sources Sought Notice to identify qualified vendors capable of providing a dry cargo voyage charter for the transportation of military cargo from Tacoma, Washington to Tengan, Okinawa, Japan. The operation requires a Roll-on/Roll-off vessel with a minimum of 64,000 square feet of usable cargo space to transport tracked and wheeled vehicles and breakbulk under F.I.O.S.S. (Free In/Out, Stowed and Secured) terms at origin and liner terms at discharge. The proposed performance period is set for a layday window commencing August 16, 2026, and canceling August 27, 2026, with Amendment 0001 modifying the original layday parameters. Respondents must submit vessel details, including flag, capacity, proposed layday, lump-sum charter rate, daily demurrage rate, and company information such as Unique Entity Identifier, small business status, and subcontracting plan. This is not a formal solicitation but a pre-acquisition market research tool under FAR guidelines to assess industry capability and pricing; no contract award, funding, or line-item pricing is guaranteed or specified. All responses must be submitted via email to LCDR Amy Hutchings by 10:00 AM Eastern Time on May 11, 2026, with no alternative submission methods or portal access permitted. No packaging, marking, labeling, or MIL-STD requirements are outlined for cargo handling, and no inspection, acceptance, or quality standards beyond operational terms are specified. The contracting office is the Strategic Sealift Program Support Office, N103A, in Norfolk, Virginia, with Nic Hatcher designated as the contracting officer. There are no special contract requirements, security clearances, key personnel obligations, contract options, or organizational conflict of interest provisions identified. Evaluation factors, award methodology, weights, or basis of selection are not included since this notice serves only to inform future procurement planning. Small business responses are requested under NAICS code 483111 with a size standard of 1,050 employees per FAR 19.102, and vendors must indicate their socioeconomic status, though no certifications are currently on file as no submissions have been received. The notice explicitly states no set-aside is being used, and no payment, accounting, invoicing, or remittance details are provided as the