Push Boat Service for Floating Bridge 6

The Isle of Wight Council (“the Authority”) invites Tenders from suitably qualified suppliers (“Potential Suppliers”) for the provision of a Push Boat Service for Floating Bridge 6.

This procurement follows the OPEN under the Public Contract Regulations 2015.

The Authority requires the Supplier to provide a fully crewed vessel to push Floating Bridge 6 (FB6) square on the Cowes and East Cowes Slipways during the fast-flowing spring ebb tides for the periods as set out in Appendix 1.

The Supplier must be able to provide a vessel adequate to the task of pushing the Floating Bridge square to the slipway without the need for any modifications to any part of FB6. The vessel used to deliver the service must conform to the relevant Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) class; it must be certified, equipped and crewed accordingly.

Please note that, before contract award, the Preferred Supplier will be required to undertake a sea trial on one spring tide to establish that their proposed vessel and methodology achieve the requirements of the specification. Should the trial fail to achieve these objectives then the Authority reserves the right to reject the submission and seek to award to the next placed Potential Supplier. If this is the case, then a live trial will be undertaken for the second placed Potential Supplier.

The term of the contract shall be from 1st October 2022 until 30th September 2025 with the option to extend for up to a further 24 months at the sole discretion of the Authority. Extensions will be agreed for 6 month periods up to a maximum of 24 months in total; each extension will be advised a minimum of two months before it is required.

The closing date for receipt of Tenders is 14:00Hrs on 17 August 2022.