Sources Sought
7th Fleet Welder Qualification and Sustained Capability Program
Department of Defense · Department of the Navy
AI summarySources sought SSP27-D001 is a market-research request for information (RFI), not a bid request: no contract is being awarded yet. The Navy's NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center Yokosuka wants ship repair firms that hold a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) or Agreement for Boat Repair (ABR) and could qualify a Navy-approved welding procedure at their own facility in the 7th Fleet area, outside Japan and Guam. Responses are due November 15, 2026, 11:00 AM UTC+9 (10:00 AM Singapore time); questions are due November 2, 2026, 10:00 AM Singapore time. More in the summary
Market research, not a bid. Replying is free and tells Department of the Navy who could do this work. Send a short reply to the contracting contact; no price is needed. See the contact
AI summary Beta
Sources sought SSP27-D001 is a market-research request for information (RFI), not a bid request: no contract is being awarded yet. The Navy's NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center Yokosuka wants ship repair firms that hold a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) or Agreement for Boat Repair (ABR) and could qualify a Navy-approved welding procedure at their own facility in the 7th Fleet area, outside Japan and Guam. Responses are due November 15, 2026, 11:00 AM UTC+9 (10:00 AM Singapore time); questions are due November 2, 2026, 10:00 AM Singapore time.
Who can bid
- Hold an active Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) or Agreement for Boat Repair (ABR) with the U.S. Navy
- Contractor-owned welding facilities and fabrication equipment inside the 7th Fleet area of responsibility, outside Japan and Guam
- Welding of the test assembly done by regular employees of the contractor (not subcontractors or temporary specialists) at the contractor's site with its own equipment
How to submit: Email in PDF or Microsoft Word format to the points of contact in the RFI (cony.w.ng.ln@us.navy.mil; emily.r.seratch.civ@us.navy.mil), and include the team email flcyc257@us.navy.mil in the response. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (8)
From the version posted Oct 23, 2026.
- Serious: Only Navy ship repair agreement holders qualify. Firms must already hold a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA: Navy pre-approval to repair ships) or Agreement for Boat Repair (ABR); a business without one cannot take part.
- Serious: Overseas facility required. The welding is done at your own facility in the 7th Fleet area outside Japan and Guam, so a U.S.-only business needs a qualifying foreign yard; the RFI does not say what local licenses, taxes or currency apply.
- Worth checking: Market research only, no contract yet. Sending a response does not start an award, the Government will not pay for it, and the work could later be competed another way.
Show all 8Show fewer
- Worth checking: Option work may change or disappear. The on-call repair line (contract line item number, CLIN: one priced line of the order) is being re-evaluated and may not be used; there is no guaranteed workload.
- Worth checking: Export-controlled technical data. The work template is marked as controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR: U.S. rules on exporting military technical data), so foreign firms and email use need care.
- Worth checking: Welding by regular employees only. The test weld must be done by your own regular employees, not subcontractors or temporary specialists.
- Minor: Government review of prerequisite records takes about three months. Welding cannot start until the Government accepts the prerequisite records, which affects the schedule you propose.
- Minor: Re-test costs fall on the contractor. Under a fixed price, normal testing, inspection and rework or re-test costs are the contractor's; the Government will not repeatedly fund failed attempts.
Read from the notice and 6 attachments. Show which files.
- SSP 27-D001 SRF DET SG Request for Information Sources sought.pdf (read)
- J-1 Request for Specification Clarification.docx (read)
- Contractor C-J1 Answer - Redacted.pdf (read)
- Contractor A-J1 answer.pdf (read)
- LWT 042-001.pdf (read)
- Contractor B Questions and Answers 10-16-26.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Task 1: set up and demonstrate a Navy-standard welding procedure: buy the procedure document, buy certified ABS Grade A steel plate and E7018-A1 electrodes, machine two test plates, weld one test assembly in the 3G vertical position with regular employees, and pass nondestructive testing (NDT: visual, radiographic, magnetic particle)
- Send the Government prerequisite records (welder qualifications, eye exam, NDT procedures and certifications) in English before welding starts
- Task 2: deliver the certified Procedure Qualification Record (PQR) package and signed welding procedure specification with the Test and Inspection Verification Sheet within 3 calendar days of work completion
- Task 3: write a sustained business and availability plan covering workforce retention, short-notice availability for Navy voyage repairs and supply of certified hull materials in the 7th Fleet area
- Possible later on-call warship voyage repair work (the Government says this option structure may change)
- Contract type
- Not awarded yet. The Government is studying firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price, whatever the work ends up costing) commercial contracts under FAR Part 12 (buying commercial products and services)
- Period of performance
- Not set. The RFI says the base and option periods will be based on timelines contractors propose; the Q&A says the base period is contractor-proposed and an option ordering period (for example 12 months with possible option periods) would be set in the actual solicitation
- Place of performance
- SAM.gov: SGP, SG-04, SGP (outside the United States). Work is done at the contractor's own facility inside the 7th Fleet area but outside Japan and Guam; the Government confirmed an approved facility in Western Australia is acceptable
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- Contract vehicle
- Open only to holders of a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) or Agreement for Boat Repair (ABR)
- How they'll choose
- No award now. For any later solicitation, the Government says it will use a specialized expert review rather than a traditional FAR Part 15 tradeoff, and may negotiate with each firm separately
- Offers due
- November 15, 2026, 11:00 AM UTC+9 (10:00 AM Singapore time)
- How to submit
- Email in PDF or Microsoft Word format to the points of contact in the RFI (cony.w.ng.ln@us.navy.mil; emily.r.seratch.civ@us.navy.mil), and include the team email flcyc257@us.navy.mil in the response
- Page limits
- Response narrative: 10 pages. Certificates, qualification records and procedure libraries may be sent as annexes outside the 10 pages
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical Merit and Feasibility: soundness, completeness and realism of the proposed training, specification delivery and business sustainability plan
- Corporate Experience: track record of welder training, naval ship repair or similar operations
- Price: overall price reasonableness and value
What to include when you submit
- Section I, company profile: name, address and website; point of contact; unique entity ID (UEI), CAGE code and active SAM.gov registration; current MSRA or ABR number; business size and socioeconomic status; location of your welding facilities in the 7th Fleet area outside Japan and Guam; current commercially qualified welding procedures (a controlled register with representative samples is accepted and preferred over every procedure)
- Section II, technical approach: how you would qualify the procedure, your in-house or subcontracted NDT capability and certified Level II/III examiners, confirmation that welding is done by regular full-time employees with company equipment, and how you would keep the procedure and welders qualified
- Section III, experience: up to three relevant past performance examples within the last 5 years of naval, commercial maritime or heavy industrial welding to recognized standards, and your ability to send crews for emergent Navy repairs in the 7th Fleet area outside Japan and Guam
- Section IV, cost and timeline: a rough-order-of-magnitude (ROM) cost or high-level fixed-price split between the base qualification and the option work, a schedule for Tasks 1 to 3, and any commercial terms, material risks or technical barriers
- Price one first-pass demonstration in the base estimate and list any re-test cost separately as an optional contingency line; you may propose a separate readiness or sustainment fee
- Clarification questions go on Form J-1 by email by November 2, 2026, 10:00 AM Singapore time
- Do not email export-controlled technical data unencrypted; contact the contracting officer first to arrange a secure transfer
- Subject line: RFI Response: 7th Fleet Welding Procedure Qualification Program - [Your Company Name]
After award, you must have
- Welder performance qualifications, eye exam and 6-month process records, plus NDT procedures and certifications, are due after award and before welding starts; they are not needed when the RFI response is sent From Contractor A-J1 answer.pdf:
Contractors do not need to have finalized SMAW welder qualificaƟon records or 6-month…
Current contractor
No incumbent is named. The Government says there are no identical previous contracts on SAM.gov.
Not in the notice text
- No estimated contract value or budget range: the Government says it does not disclose one.
- Set-aside status is not stated on SAM.gov; the RFI only asks for your business size and socioeconomic status.
- How the later repair work will be bought (option line, separate contract or task orders under existing MSRA/ABR agreements) is undecided and will be set in a later request for proposals.
- Host-country licenses, taxes, currency and any local presence rules are not addressed in the RFI.
- Overall contract length and the number of awards are not stated.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside. Any business can reply: this is market research, and no bid is being taken yet.
- To respond, send a short reply to the contracting contact near the top of this page. No price is needed.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 23, 2026
- Notice type
- Sources Sought
- Office
- NAVSUP FLT LOG CTR Yokosuka
- Product/service code
- J999 · Non-Nuclear Ship Repair (WEST)
- Business type
- Aircraft, ship & vehicle parts (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 336611)
- Versions
4 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 23, 2026 · Amendment 0003 (this version)Due Nov 15, 2026
- Oct 23, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Nov 15, 2026
- Oct 9, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Nov 15, 2026
- Oct 9, 2026 · Sources SoughtDue Nov 15, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
Terms on this notice: Sources sought notice
Full notice text from SAM.gov
This is a Request for Information (RFI) / Sources Sought notice. This announcement is published for market research and planning purposes only and does not constitute a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quotation (RFQ). The Department of the Navy is issuing this RFI to identify sources interested in and qualified to fulfill a capability gap for welding to support ship repair and maintenance located within the 7th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR), excluding Hawaii. The Government intends to evaluate capabilities and draft plans to determine the feasibility of awarding Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contracts under FAR Part 12 (Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services). This RFI provides industry with the opportunity to review the draft requirements, propose tentative technical approaches, and provide high-level pricing and performance timelines. Clarification questions (Form J-1) shall be submitted in writing via email no later than 2 Nov 2026, 10:00AM Singapore time. RFI submission deadline is 15 Nov 2026, 10:00 AM Singapore time. Please include the team's email in your responses: flcyc257@us.navy.mil
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