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Published 15 Apr 2026, 14:18 BST

Official UK procurement notice

RRS James Cook Refit Contract 2025

Authority: National Oceanography Centre (Public body)

Direct award
Sectors: Repair & Maintenance (50) Delivery: NL
Awarded value£350,000published award · inc. VAT
Awarded 19 Mar 2025no call for competition
Awarded to Damen Shipyards

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This notice follows the completion of voluntary standstill against the Contract Award Notice 2025/S 000-010186 for RRS James Cook Refit Contract 2025.

As a result, the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has contracted for the essential annual maintenance of the vessel, scheduled for June/July 2025. Given the urgency of scheduling and resource requirements, an immediate booking was essential to ensure the legal compliance & safety of the vessel.

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Lot 1Awarded
Delivery: NL
50241000 Repair and maintenance services of ships

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Direct award
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Notice status
Awarded without competition
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Direct award — no call for competition
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
15 Apr 2026, 14:18 BST
Last source update
15 Apr 2026, 14:18 BST
Authority reference
NOCP00521
Latest notice
Contract termination notice (UK11)
Delivery area
NL
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04ef24
Why no open competition
Urgency
Published justification
Following the failure of the originally planned contract, the scheduled and essential re-fit of the RSS James Cook could no longer be accommodated at the previously designated yard. As a result, the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) was compelled to re-contract for the essential annual maintenance of the vessel, scheduled for June/July 2025. Given the urgency of scheduling and resource requirements, an immediate booking was essential to ensure the legal compliance & safety of the vessel.

How it was run

Submission deadline
—

Timeline

2 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Standstill ends
    3 Apr 2025, 23:59 BST
  2. Notice published164 days ago
    15 Apr 2026, 14:18 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics — not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value (inc. VAT) £350,0001 award inc. VAT — no net value published
Contracts signed 1latest 4 Apr 2025
Awarded toValueDateStatus
Damen Shipyards30 Jun 2025 — 26 Jul 2025Options: Ad-hoc works may be found during refit activity.£350,000 inc. VAT19 Mar 2025Awarded

Contracts

  • Contract 1 · Damen Shipyards

    Signed
    4 Apr 2025
    Value
    £572,188
    Period
    22 Jul 2025 — 26 Jul 2025
    Status
    terminated — This contracted refit was successfully completed in June 2025, all pertaining warranties have now ended following anniversary of the award 04.04.2025. Posting issues with the central digital platform have caused a delay for posting the UK11. We have now resolved this with the CDP support.
    Options
    Due to the nature of the works - there may be additional requirements identified during installations or repairs.
    Final value
    £572,188
    Termination
    contractCompleted
    • Change 22 Jul 2025 This modification is made under the legal ground provided in the Procurement Act 2023, Schedule 8, paragraph 8 ("Additional goods, services or works"). The justification for using this ground is that the modification provides for the supply of works in addition to those already provided for in the contract. Using a different supplier for these highly integrated works would result in the supply of works that are incompatible with the ongoing refit, leading to disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance and a substantial duplication of costs for the authority. This modification increases the original contract value, but remains within the 50% cap permitted under this ground.
    • Change 22 Jul 2025 This modification is made under the legal ground provided in the Procurement Act 2023, Schedule 8, paragraph 4 ("Unforeseeable circumstances"). The justification for using this ground is that the circumstances giving rise to the need for these specific works (e.g., latent defects, corrosion, and other issues discovered only after inspecting the vessel) could not reasonably have been foreseen by a diligent contracting authority before the contract was awarded. This modification does not change the overall nature of the contract, which remains a vessel refit. This contract is for works not subject to vat and therefore is correctly declared at 0% VAT. The total amount payable after all taxes & charges is therefore £572,188.06 This modification increases the contract value but within the 50% cap permitted by this ground.

    No agreed KPIs: Provision of the services required to the applicable standards are mandated within the contract as pass fail upon inspection to be considered as completed and therefore no further performance measures are required.

Notice history

10 events · 6 releases on Find a Tender · since 19 Mar 2025
  1. Contract termination notice published
    15 Apr 2026, 14:18 BSTUK11
  2. Buyer details updated
    15 Apr 2026, 14:18 BST
  3. Contract change notice published
    22 Jul 2025, 15:15 BSTUK10
  4. Contract change notice published
    22 Jul 2025, 12:27 BSTUK10
  5. Status changed
    22 Jul 2025, 12:27 BST
  6. Procurement method changed
    22 Jul 2025, 12:27 BST
  7. Contract details notice published
    27 Jun 2025, 15:33 BSTUK7
  8. Contract signature expected
    4 Apr 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
  9. Contract award notice published
    25 Mar 2025, 14:46 GMTUK6
  10. Transparency notice published
    19 Mar 2025, 15:02 GMTUK5
Routine re-releases (6)
  • 2025-06: 1 release · 27 Jun 2025
  • 2025-03: 2 releases · 19 Mar 2025 — 25 Mar 2025

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

National Oceanography Centre

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-CHC: 1185265 · GB-COH: 11444362 · GB-PPON: PYLV-3456-PMCQ National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, South East, SO14 3ZH

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice
  • Damen ShipyardsAwarded supplierGB-PPON: PWLR-8384-GXMN Avelingen West 20, Gorinchem, NL, 4202 MS, NL

Official documents & specifications (7)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Conflict of interest declarationtenderConflict of interest declarationNot published

Notices published for this procedure

  • Contract termination notice contractContract termination noticeUK11Contract termination notice on Find a Tender
  • Contract change notice contractContract change noticeUK10Contract change notice on Find a Tender
  • Contract change notice contractContract change noticeUK10Contract change notice on Find a Tender
  • Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender
  • Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender
  • Transparency notice awardTransparency noticeUK5Transparency notice on Find a Tender