The Scottish Government

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ANNEX E: SUMMARY OF TENDER DOCUMENTATION: SUPPORTING MATERIAL REQUIRED

Service specification

1. The Tenderer's full response to the requirements in the Service Specification as set out in Section 3.

Safety Record

2. Details must be provided of the Tenderer's safety record over the past year to December 2004. Details of accidents to passengers, crew and freight should be included, as should particulars of all serious vessel incidents such as major breakdowns, grounding, collision, fire, or loss.

Operational Management Plan

3. The delivery of the Services is a complex exercise requiring expertise in a number of fields, including Ship Management, with all that that involves in terms of good husbandry, the management of risk, manning and industrial relations, technical support and maintenance; Customer Care, in relation to passenger safety and satisfaction, the management of hotel services, public relations, booking and marketing and Cargo Logistics which involves the efficient expeditious and commercially viable transport of freight and livestock between the Northern Isles and the Scottish mainland.

4. Tenderers must provide a clear operational management plan for the Services. This should include -

• The Tenderer's management structure showing where operational responsibility for the Services lie.
• The names of key personnel with responsibility for:
• Operational Safety
• Quality
• Technical management
• Booking arrangements
• Co-ordination with local shipping interests and integrated transport links
• Crewing proposals, including source of crew (see also Section 2).
• An outline emergency response plan should be provided, showing areas of responsibility and contact procedure in the event of an emergency.
• subcontractors should be shown along with the scope of subcontracted services and the manner in which it is intended to manage these subcontracts.
• Technical Submissions should be specific in relation to the responsibility for vessel support and management, and actual Service delivery.
• the names of the key personnel with responsibility for each area of the overall operation must be provided and internal business relationships between the various interests within the overall operation should be transparent.
• The management plan should incorporate a clear plan of the management structure, with key individuals being named, and the proposals in relation to transfer of the current NorthLink personnel, and how that it will be incorporated into the overall plan. As a minimum, the names and C.Vs should be provided for:

The Contract Manager.
Managing Director
Financial Director
Operations Manager
Technical Manager.
Commercial Manager
Safety Manager.
Designated Person Ashore.

5. Certain of these roles may be combined; however, it is the function which is important rather than the title of the post.

6. Tenderers are to nominate one senior individual within their organisation to act as a single point of contact and to be responsible for day to day liaison with the Executive on all matters relating to the conduct of the Operator's responsibilities under the Grant Agreement.

Vessel Specification

7. The Draft Grant Agreement provides a requirement to use the Fleet Vessels. For provision of the freight only service, Tenderers will have the option to take on one of the existing freight vessels currently used, the Hascosay. Where an Operator Vessel is to be used, full details of such Operator Vessel should be provided. These should include particulars of where and when built, port of registry, previous names, service speed and consumption, carrying capacity and class.

8. A copy of the current Safcon, load line and LSA certificates must be provided, along with a general arrangement drawing and a note of the date of the next special survey. Tenderers should provide details of the Vessels' port state inspection record, covering the last two years of operations, with full details of any detentions.

9. Tenderers should provide a general arrangement drawing, and full details of the freight Vessels to be used for the Services including (where appropriate):

• Name, Crew Nationality, Reg No. or IMO Number, Year of Build, Manning Scale, Lane metre capacity.
• LOA, Beam, Load Draft, Horse Power, Service Speed, Daily Consumption and Fuel Type.
• Bunker Capacity, Propulsion Configuration (Twin/single, screw/rudder), Thruster Power.
• Details of current survey status, dry docking schedule and date of last docking to be provided.
• A copy of the Vessel's current loadline certificate must be provided.

10. Copies of the Vessel's current certificates of class must be provided. Details of the Vessel's current employment and trading status should also be provided.Where it is the intention to convert or modify a Vessel for use on the route, full details of the extent of the work to be carried out should be provided, along with a timescale to demonstrate that the work can be done in sufficient time to meet the Draft Grant Agreement Commencement Date. If no conversion work is required, a statement must be made to this effect. Tenderers must return the Tender Submission Undertaking as set out in Annex J with their Tenders

11. The Executive reserve the right to inspect Vessels as part of the Tender evaluation process. Tenderers should nominate a location at which any Vessel can be inspected.

12. In respect of any Vessels used in relation to the freight service:

• Where the Vessel is to be purchased, a copy of the memorandum of agreement between the Tenderer and the Vessel's present owner should be provided.
• Where the Vessel proposed for any of the routes is not currently in the ownership of the Tenderer, clear evidence of the Vessel's availability must be provided, through proof of ownership/lease agreement.
• Where a Vessel is to be chartered, a copy of the charter party to be used should be provided along with a written statement from the Vessel's owner or current charterer to the effect that the Vessel will be available to the Tenderer for use for the service.

13. It is the responsibility of Tenderers to satisfy themselves in relation to the suitability of Vessels in respect of conditions governing access to the berths and harbours to be served. Any Operator Vessel must be capable of berthing and unberthing unassisted, and of lying safely alongside and working cargo at each of the berths in normal operating conditions all year round for the Harbours. In proposing any particular Vessels Tenderers should satisfy themselves with regard to local conditions in respect of such issues as depth of water, tidal range, wind speed, predicted waveheight and other meteorological conditions which prevail on the routes. Tenderers should research each of the berths at each Harbour, in order to satisfy themselves as to the suitability of Vessels, in regard to such issues as LOA, beam, draft, ramp dimensions and configuration. Tender submissions should include a statement to the effect that this has been done.

14. The Executive will have the right to call for information regarding and conduct any audits or inspections of the proposed Vessel and their records or premises it deems to be required in relation to compliance checking of the Draft Grant Agreement requirements.

15. The Vessels used shall be UK or EU flagged.

Marketing Plan

16. Tenderers are encouraged strongly to consult with local interests when considering marketing issues associated with the operation and development of the Services. Tenderers must provide an outline-marketing plan containing details of their proposals for the marketing of the routes.

Insurance

17. Tenderers must provide details of the arrangements to be put in place for third party liability insurance in respect of their performance of the Grant Agreement, including the operation of any Vessel.

18. The Operator must carry insurance against third party risks in respect of cargo damage and claims made in respect of damage should be fairly assessed. A mechanism for the receipt and assessment of claims in respect of cargo damage should be put in place and customers of the service made aware of its existence. Technical Submissions must contain details of the system proposed for the assessment of claims for cargo damage.

19. Tenderers must supply full details of the insurance arrangements in place for all Vessels and for their own operations. These will consist of;

The name of the P&I Association with which the Vessel is entered along with a copy of the certificate of entry.

A Certificate of Hull and Machinery Insurance for the Vessel.

Identity of the underwriters with whom third party risks is placed along with details of the extent of cover.

Quality Plan

A Quality Plan must be provided, containing details of the Tenderer's:

• current operational accreditation, such as ISO 9002, or ISO 1400 with a copy of the certificate;
• ISM Accreditation, along with copies of certificates;
• any accreditation towards which Tenderers are currently working with planned compliance dates; and
• proposals for managing quality on the route.

Issues to be covered will include:

• outline routine formal audit programme for the route;
• proposals for monitoring service standards on a day-to-day basis;
• the Tenderer will be required to provide appropriate performance statistics to representatives of Northern Isles-based user-groups, and to make the figures available to the Executive as and when required;
• proposals for monitoring customer satisfaction, including regular consultation with Northern Isles-based users' representatives;
• the Tenderer must be prepared to respond to unscheduled requests for consultation, from either the Executive or Northern Isles-based user-groups, should the issues raised warrant it; and
• details of the complaints procedure which the Tenderer will implement, with target timescales for the resolution of issues.

Environmental Considerations

20. Tenderers must provide full details of their policy in relation to environmental protection and should describe any particular steps they will take in order to help preserve the routes' environment.

Risk Assessment

21. Tenderers must carry out a risk assessment for the Services. Details of this must be provided as part of the Technical Submission.

Implementation Plan

22. Tenderers must produce a detailed Implementation (Mobilisation) Plan demonstrating that they have considered all relevant risk factors associated with Services and setting out the means they intend to adopt to manage the risks and minimise their effect.

23. The Implementation Plan should include reference to:

• Any human resource or industrial relations issues that the Tenderer feels may arise surrounding the recruitment and retention of crew and staff.
• Arrangements for staff training, including disability and awareness training (see MACS Recommended Minimum Training Standard.
• Identification of any other training requirements and the arrangements and timetable for achieving them.
• Vessel trials, including trial berthing, where necessary.
• Achievement of required safety certification.
• Arrangements for setting up the booking system (including honouring of existing booking arrangements).
• The Implementation Plan must include a timetable for the activities detailed above, covering the period between contract award and service implementation.

Tendering Process and Timetable

24. Tenderer's timetable for the implementation.

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