Official UK procurement notice
Uncrewed Ocean Surface Vehicle (USV)
Authority: Cardiff University (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe School of Physical, Chemical and Environmental Sciences (PACES) seeks to procure a modern uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) to support teaching, research and innovation in marine science, hydrographic surveying and marine robotics.
The platform will significantly enhance practical field teaching by providing students with access to contemporary autonomous survey technology that reflects current industry practice. The acquisition aligns with the strategic direction of UK marine science, where autonomous systems are increasingly central to national marine research infrastructure and offshore operations. It will provide students with experience of the technologies and operational workflows that are now expected across the marine sector, improving graduate employability and strengthening links with industry.
The proposed system will expand the University's field teaching capability by increasing the number and diversity of environments in which practical survey exercises can be undertaken. In addition to coastal waters, the platform should be suitable for deployment in ports, harbours, estuaries, inland waters and sheltered bays, creating greater flexibility for undergraduate teaching and postgraduate research.
Read the full description (2,429 more characters)
Its portability will also enable deployment during residential field courses and support independent student projects and dissertations, providing more authentic, hands-on learning opportunities throughout the academic year while improving accessibility and inclusivity by allowing students to participate in advanced survey operations without requiring access to crewed survey vessels. To maximise operational flexibility, the USV should be readily transportable by a small team and capable of deployment without specialist lifting equipment.
The platform must therefore be person-portable and of modular construction, enabling it to fit within the rear of a standard SUV or pickup vehicle for transportation between field sites.
The system should be designed for low maintenance and provide a minimum operational endurance of seven hours on a single battery charge, allowing uninterrupted operation throughout a full teaching or survey day. Hot-swappable battery carriages would be highly desired.
The School requires a platform capable of both remote operation from shore and teleconnected operation, providing safe and effective survey capability without personnel entering the water. The system should support the creation and execution of pre-programmed navigation tracks and permit real-time editing of survey parameters and data acquisition whilst underway. Compatibility with the University's existing NORBIT multibeam sonar system is considered very highly desirable/near-essential, allowing integration with existing survey equipment and reducing additional capital expenditure. Safety, environmental sustainability and regulatory compliance are fundamental requirements.
The platform should incorporate situational awareness and collision avoidance capabilities to support safe autonomous operations. It must produce zero direct emissions during operation, generate minimal underwater and airborne noise, and avoid pollution of the operating environment. To facilitate straightforward regulatory compliance and minimise operational burden, the vessel should have an overall length of less than 2.5 metres, enabling operation within the scope of the exemptions outlined in MGN 702(M) Amendment 1.
Lastly, we would consider an autocast sound-velocity profiler winch highly desirable, and the ability to add/remove other sensors ad hoc, cheaply, and with ease of compatibility as a strong basis for choosing the final vessel.
CPV: Survey vessels · Surveying, hydrographic, oceanographic and hydrological instruments and appliances
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Lot 1Published value£100,000
- Value
- £100,000 exc. VAT · £100,000 inc. VAT
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published — the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Quality — 30%
- ESG — 10%
- Price — 60%
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Cardiff University buys Ships (CPV 3451) — and who usually turns up
Cardiff University’s own published record, next to the Wales (Cymru) market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Ships (CPV 3451) →
How the contest usually goes
Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.
Cardiff University
contract notices in 36 months: 1 in division 34 (1 without competition) · 95 in all categories (32 without competition · 17 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 40 lots. 22 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 3) and 18 from older notices (bids received, middle 5).
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 40 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 22 pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 21 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How often this buyer changes a notice after publishing it.
Middle number of amendments per notice. Deadline extensions and corrections both count.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 158 notices.
i
How often this buyer awards without a competition.
Direct or limited awards as a share of its notices that say which procedure was used. These routes are legal in defined cases. This is just the record.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 78 notices.
Wales (Cymru) · Ships (CPV 3451)
contract notices delivered in Wales (Cymru) in 36 months: 3 in CPV 3451 (2 competed, 1 route not published) · 142 in division 34 (115 competed, 21 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 34), last 36 months: 88 lots. 33 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 3) and 55 from older notices (bids received, middle 3).
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 34), last 36 months: 88 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 34), last 36 months: 48 pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 34), last 36 months: 32 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.
SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.
Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 34), last 36 months: 86 lots.
i
How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.
Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.
Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 34), last 36 months: 80 awards.
Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.
i
Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.
We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.
Based on this buyer’s own usual movement over 22 lots (all categories), applied to the £100,000 estimate on this notice.
A benchmark, not a price to bid.
Coverage and what to read with care
- Each tile explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
- Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
- “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Below threshold - open competition
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 5 Oct 2026, 10:42 BST
- Last source update
- 5 Oct 2026, 10:42 BST
- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078079Find a Tender
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via In-tend- Expression of interest (EOI)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 23 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 16 Oct 2026, 16:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
Timeline
4 published dates · Europe/London- Tender notice publishedjust passed5 Oct 2026, 10:42 BST
- Clarification questions byin 11 days16 Oct 2026, 16:00 BST
- Submission deadlinein 18 days23 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
- Contract startsin 63 days7 Dec 2026, 00:00 GMT
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published5 Oct 2026, 10:42 BSTUK4
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender