Navy Awards Multi Ship/Multi Option Contract

The Navy awarded the East Coast Multi/Ship Multi Option (MS/MO) contract on Dec. 20 to Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation (NORSHIPCO) for DDG docking maintenance availabilities along with their associated non-docking availabilities.

The contract is a Cost Plus Award Fee contract type with hull specific maintenance availabilities, as well as Inter-availability Maintenance. "This contract transforms the way the Navy does maintenance and provides the Navy greater flexibility to support surge deployment vice the previous rotational posture," commented Rear Adm. Charles Hamilton, Program Executive Officer-Ships.

This contracting strategy allows the Navy to align contracting methodologies between coasts and make the most efficient use of current resources by establishing flexible, responsive repair contracts to meet changing fleet requirements and schedules. The MS/MO provides schedule savings through learning curve cost improvements, associated with long-term contracts, containing repetitive work throughout ship's training/deployment/ maintenance/modernization cycles, in order to reduce costs through the benefits of advanced planning and lessons learned.

This contract includes nine docking availabilities along with their associated non-docking availabilities. NORSHIPCO will be responsible for planning the availabilities. The contract also requires 40% of the direct production work to be subcontracted to at least two small businesses. NORSHIPCO's effectiveness in providing subcontracting to small business was evaluated as part of the contract award process and will be considered as part of the award fee to encourage the most efficient and practical use of small business.

This contract has a total estimated value of $50M. The $50M is based upon the successful offeror's response to the Government's notional work package in the solicitation over the life of the contract. Each availability is a contract option and will be priced by the contractor once the Navy provides a definitive work package for the contractor to price.