Solicitation
360-Day Dry Cargo Time Charter
Department of Defense · Department of the Navy
AI summaryMilitary Sealift Command (MSC) Norfolk, part of the Department of the Navy, wants to charter (rent with crew) a cargo ship for about 360 days. It would carry U.S. Marine Corps vehicles and gear in the Western Pacific, for the Strategic Sealift Program Support Office. The ship is delivered and returned at Naha, Okinawa, with laydays starting no later than December 28, 2026. Any business can bid; the response due date is November 2, 2026, 11:00 AM Eastern. More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 26, 2026. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 21, 2026. The notice was amended Oct 26, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 1 of 4 attachments weren't read (27R6015_Fuel_Consumption.xlsx). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Military Sealift Command (MSC) Norfolk, part of the Department of the Navy, wants to charter (rent with crew) a cargo ship for about 360 days. It would carry U.S. Marine Corps vehicles and gear in the Western Pacific, for the Strategic Sealift Program Support Office. The ship is delivered and returned at Naha, Okinawa, with laydays starting no later than December 28, 2026. Any business can bid; the response due date is November 2, 2026, 11:00 AM Eastern.
Who can bid (6)
- Offer a U.S. or foreign flag general cargo RORO or LOLO ship with at least 40,000 square feet of cargo space for Marine Corps rolling and non-rolling stock, containers and mission equipment.
- Maximum laden draft of 6.0 meters, with draft figures given at 975 short tons and at 2,500 short tons.
- Loaded speed of at least 10 knots, a transit range of at least 5,000 nautical miles, and up to 21 days of operation without resupply.
Show all 6Show fewer
- Ship and class certificates: ABS and U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection, Certificate of Documentation and Load Line Certificate or equivalent.
- Crane ships: a spreader bar for each crane, able to lift 20-foot and 40-foot containers, weight tested to 50,000 lbs.
- Active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM), which also supplies several of the required representations.
How to submit: E-mail to David Anaya, david.c.anaya.civ@us.navy.mil (SF 1449 Block 7), as an Adobe Acrobat PDF. The charter form also allows fax or mail to the Block 9 address, Military Sealift Command Norfolk, 471 East C Street, Bldg. SP-64, Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, VA 23511-2419.. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (9)
- Serious: You must have a qualifying ship. This is a ship charter, so only owners or operators who can offer a RORO or LOLO vessel with 40,000 square feet of cargo space can bid.
- Serious: Laydays window at Naha, Okinawa. The ship must be at Naha no later than the commencing time; the cancelling date is January 6, 2027, 1600 local. Offers must include an itinerary showing the ship can meet the laydays.
- Serious: Valid offer needs ship name, price and signature. An offer missing any of the three is not considered, and unsigned offers will not be considered for award.
Show all 9Show fewer
- Worth checking: Award by lowest price and VISA preference scale. Up to two awards go to the lowest evaluated prices, but the VISA preference scale applies; VISA is a program where carriers commit ships to military sealift, and status is asked in Box 20.
- Worth checking: Work is in Japan and the Western Pacific. The documents read do not require a local office or host-country licenses. Foreign port bills must be translated into English and converted to US dollars, and FAR 52.229-12 (tax on certain foreign procurements) is checked.
- Worth checking: May carry explosives and other hazardous cargo. Besides the listed items, the ship may need to carry hazardous class material in Divisions 1.1 through 1.4.
- Worth checking: Possible classified requirement. The charter form says the offeror must acknowledge a classified requirement; a cleared representative may ask to review it, which is optional, and the RFP text read does not describe one.
- Minor: Imminent danger pay area notice. The Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Straits and Gulf of Aden are designated imminent danger pay locations for Military Sealift Command civilian mariners, which the charter's war section refers to.
- Minor: E-mail delays can make an offer late. An e-mail still on a Government server but not yet in the named inbox by the response due date counts as late.
Read from the notice and 3 attachments. 1 of 4 not read. Show which files.
- 27R6015 RFP.pdf (read)
- 2019-0288 Rev. 27.pdf (read)
- DRYTIME 2026 (02-26).pdf (read)
- 27R6015_Fuel_Consumption.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- A U.S. or foreign flag general cargo roll-on/roll-off (RORO: vehicles drive on and off) or lift-on/lift-off (LOLO: cargo is craned on and off) ship with at least 40,000 square feet of cargo space
- Port-to-port moves of Marine Corps rolling stock, containers and mission gear in the Western Pacific for about 360 days, with possible hazardous cargo (Divisions 1.1 through 1.4)
- Capability to moor alongside piers and quay walls and handle cargo with the ship's own equipment
- A ship that can load at piers and quay walls with its own ramps or cranes, with maximum laden draft of 6.0 meters, a loaded speed of at least 10 knots, a range of at least 5,000 nautical miles and 21 days without resupply
- Owner arranges loading, securing, stevedoring (dock labor) and fuel, with fuel and port costs reimbursed on receipts
- Meals and stateroom-style berthing for at least two Sponsor (Marine Corps) personnel, with extra supercargo (added Government personnel) at $50 USD per person per day
- Chains, binders, lashing gear and, for crane ships, one spreader bar per crane weight tested to 50,000 lbs
- Delivery and redelivery at Naha, Okinawa or a designated anchorage nearby
- Contract type
- Time charter (vessel hire) under FAR Part 12 using FAR Part 15 negotiation procedures; firm-fixed-price contracts are planned, and up to two may be awarded. Hire is quoted per day.
- Period of performance
- About 360 days. The Government may extend services up to 6 months under FAR 52.217-8.
- Place of performance
- Western Pacific region. Delivery and redelivery at Naha, Okinawa, JA (as written) or a designated anchorage in the vicinity. SAM.gov lists Japan (outside the United States).
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Lowest price, technically acceptable. The Government will award up to two contracts to responsible offerors with technically acceptable proposals and the lowest evaluated prices, following the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA) preference scale.
- Offers due
- November 2, 2026, 11:00 AM Eastern (from the version posted Oct 21, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- E-mail to David Anaya, david.c.anaya.civ@us.navy.mil (SF 1449 Block 7), as an Adobe Acrobat PDF. The charter form also allows fax or mail to the Block 9 address, Military Sealift Command Norfolk, 471 East C Street, Bldg. SP-64, Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, VA 23511-2419.
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical: the proposed ship is checked against the requirements in Part I, DRYTIME Boxes 1 through 6 (vessel required, delivery and redelivery places, charter period, laydays and added terms); acceptable or not
- Price: charter hire for 360 days plus fuel, using 118 days underway laden, 45 days underway ballast (empty) and 197 days idle in port, with fuel priced at $1,608.88 per metric ton of marine gas oil or marine diesel oil (MGO/MDO)
What to include when you submit
- A valid offer has at least a ship name, a price and a signature; without all three it will not be evaluated.
- Send the offer as a PDF (no JPEG files, no files over 20 megabytes), signed with a verifiable electronic signature or a scanned handwritten signature.
- Complete the DRYTIME charter form boxes (Part I), stressing the INMARSAT number, call letters, IMO number, year and flag of the ship, proposed laydays, VISA status, a contact for contractor performance reports, the daily hire rate and an explanation of any bonuses.
- Provide the ship's itinerary confirming it can meet the laydays (Commencing no later than December 28, 2026, 0800 local; Cancelling January 6, 2027, 1600 local).
- Submit the completed fuel consumption spreadsheet (DRYTIME Boxes 68 through 71).
- Submit a warranty that you acknowledge and will meet every solicitation and charter form requirement, and a statement on how far you agree with all terms.
- Submit responses for items 1A (general ship description), 1B (draft at 975 and at 2,500 short tons), 1D(1) (hazardous cargo), 1D(4) and 1D(5) (ramp and crane details), 1G(4) (medical and sanitation, including the medical facilities and treatment capability) and 5 (laydays and itinerary).
- Send a vessel specification sheet, a general arrangement drawing, pictures of the ship and its interior spaces, and the ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) and U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection, Certificate of Documentation and Load Line Certificate, or equivalent certificates.
- Complete the required representations and certifications, including FAR 52.229-11 (tax on certain foreign procurements) and FAR 52.222-56 (trafficking in persons compliance); several others are satisfied by your SAM registration.
- Small businesses do not need to send a small business subcontracting plan.
Current contractor
No incumbent or earlier contract is named. The RFP says up to two contracts may be awarded.
Not in the notice text
- The cargo list the RFP refers to is not in the files read, and the fuel consumption spreadsheet (27R6015_Fuel_Consumption.xlsx) was attached but not read. The middle of the DRYTIME charter form (DRYTIME 2026 (02-26).pdf, 91,049 of 226,083 characters read, including the rest of Part III through the start of Part VI) was also attached but not read.
- The Government's estimate or budget for the charter is not stated.
- Whether the classified requirement in the charter form applies to this charter, and how to request a review, is not described in the RFP text.
- Currency for offers, host-country licensing or any local-presence requirement in Japan, and host-country labor law are not described in the text read.
- How VISA status will rank offers in this solicitation, and whether the Government will evaluate only U.S. flag vessels, is not stated in the RFP text.
- Whether the Government will exercise the up-to-6-month extension is not stated.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: E-mail to David Anaya, david.c.anaya.civ@us.navy.mil (SF 1449 Block 7), as an Adobe Acrobat PDF. The charter form also allows fax or mail to the Block 9 address, Military Sealift Command Norfolk, 471 East C Street, Bldg. SP-64, Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, VA 23511-2419. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 21, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- MSCHQ Norfolk, VA
- Product/service code
- V124 · Transportation/Travel/Relocation – Transportation: Marine Charter
- Business type
- Transportation, logistics & vehicles (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 483111)
- Versions
4 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 26, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Nov 2, 2026
- Oct 21, 2026 · Amendment 0001 (this version)Due Nov 2, 2026
- Oct 21, 2026 · SolicitationDue Nov 2, 2026
- Oct 21, 2026 · PresolicitationDate Nov 2, 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
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
RFP N3220527R6015 IS HEREBY RELEASED. SEE ATTACHED DOCUMENTS.
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