Award

HOA3 - Harbour Operating Agreement

CALEDONIAN MARITIME ASSETS LTD (UTILITY)

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

09 Oct 2025 at 12:16

Award

12 May 2025 at 11:01

Summary of the contracting process

On 9th October 2025, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) awarded the Harbour Operating Agreement (HOA3) to CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL) as part of a completed public procurement process involving services in the port and waterway operation industry. The procurement used a limited methodology without prior publication of a competition notice, a decision stemming from technical reasons due to CFL's established presence in ferry operations under CHFS3 in the Clyde and Hebrides. This contract, valued at £67,440,000, encompasses harbour operational duties across ports and harbours within the CHFS operating area, primarily in the regions UKM6 and UKM8. The award was finalised on 23rd September 2025 under the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) regulations, addressing essential infrastructure needs for lifeline ferry services.

This procurement process spotlights substantial business growth opportunities particularly for entities capable of providing comprehensive port and waterway operation services. Although the direct opportunity was not publicly competed due to specific technical limitations, firms experienced in harbour management and maritime operations could benefit by positioning themselves as strategic partners or subcontractors for CFL. This is especially relevant considering the dual role requirements combining ferry and harbour operational duties, a segment dominated by the singular economic operator status of CFL. Companies able to offer staffing solutions or specialised maritime equipment in remote areas might find ancillary opportunities beneficial in supporting such lifeline services.

Find more tenders on our Open Data Platform.
How relevant is this notice?

Notice Title

HOA3 - Harbour Operating Agreement

Notice Description

This notice concerns the award of a harbour operating agreement, known as HOA3, by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) to CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL). CMAL is the statutory harbour authority at certain harbours and other marine facilities and is responsible for the operation, management, maintenance and improvement of them. CFL is due to be appointed by Transport Scotland on behalf of Scottish Ministers as the operator of lifeline ferry services in the Clyde and Hebrides, under a ferry services contract known as CHFS3. Please refer to this notice published by Transport Scotland for further details: Notice ID: MAY529943. The CHFS3 services will call at the CMAL harbours. CMAL is awarding the HOA3 to CFL because it is the operator of CHFS3 and because of the need to have the same operator for both the ferry services and the harbour operations as explained in this notice.

Lot Information

Lot 1

CMAL intends to award the HOA3 to CFL following the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a call for competition under regulation 48 of the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016. Regulation 48(1)(c)(ii) is applicable in this case due to the unique position of CFL as the lifeline ferry services operator under CHFS3, due to which competition for HOA3 is absent for technical reasons. Both HOA3 and CHFS3 involve the performance of harbour based duties at CMAL harbours: The harbour operating duties include: assessing navigational safety in the harbour, vessels mooring operations, operating pier equipment, inspecting harbour assets and reporting on defects, management of navigation, collection of third party harbour charges, liaison with third party tenants and harbour users, housekeeping (including cleaning slipways, cleaning ladders, weed-killing, septic tank emptying, potable water testing), managing waste at the harbours (generated on the harbour and from vessels), dealing with dangerous goods in harbour areas, managing harbour user conflict, managing harbour health and safety including permits to work, and acting as the first point of contact to deal with harbour emergencies and security issues. These duties are allocated to CFL under HOA3. The harbour based ferry operations duties include: managing ferry bookings (including sale of tickets), checking-in customers, face-to-face dealings with ferry customers, marshalling ferry traffic and pedestrians and manging ferry disruptions. These duties are allocated to CFL under CHFS3. Currently, and historically, the harbour operating duties and the harbour based ferry operations duties have always been delivered by the same operator entity, with the same workforce deployed to perform all the duties. Under this arrangement, individual staff members perform dual roles covering both harbour operations and ferry operations. For the reasons explained below, this is the only reasonable and viable means of delivering the services. CFL is the current incumbent operator of both the harbour operations (under a HOA2 contract awarded by CMAL on 22 August 2016) and the lifeline ferry services (under a CHFS2 contract award by The Scottish Ministers on 22 August 2016).

Procurement Information

See Additional information at VI.3

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0510bb
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/063715-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

63 - Supporting and auxiliary transport services; travel agencies services


CPV Codes

63721000 - Port and waterway operation services and associated services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£137,440,000 £100M-£1B

Notice Dates

Publication Date
9 Oct 20256 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
11 May 202511 months ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Cancelled
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
CALEDONIAN MARITIME ASSETS LTD (UTILITY)
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
PORT GLASGOW
Postcode
PA14 5EQ
Post Town
Paisley
Country
Scotland

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM3 West Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM33 Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, and Renfrewshire
Delivery Location
TLM6 Highlands and Islands, TLM8 West Central Scotland

Local Authority
Inverclyde
Electoral Ward
Inverclyde East Central
Westminster Constituency
Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

CALMAC FERRIES

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

{
    "tag": [
        "compiled"
    ],
    "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-0510bb-2025-10-09T13:16:44+01:00",
    "date": "2025-10-09T13:16:44+01:00",
    "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-0510bb",
    "description": "CFL is and will continue to be the operator of the lifeline ferry services under CHFS3 and is the only economic operator that could conceivably deliver HOA3. This is due to the technical arrangements for the workforce, under which individual staff members perform dual roles. CFL will have a workforce under CHFS3 that is responsible for delivery of the harbour based ferry operations duties. In order to perform those duties effectively, the individual staff members must be based on the ground in each harbour. The nature of these lifeline ferry services means that many harbours are in remote and rural locations. It is not possible for one individual to adequately perform those duties at multiple harbours. Many of the harbours are served by few ferries per day (or week), with few other harbour users, and so open only for limited hours a day based around the scheduled lifeline ferry services. Individual staff members based on the ground at those harbours therefore have capacity to perform harbour operator duties as well as the harbour based ferry operations duties. The services (harbours and ferries) have always been delivered in tandem, and existing staff members have the skills and experience to perform a dual role. In circumstances where CFL already has a workforce on the ground in the harbours to perform the ferry services under CHFS3, with the existing capacity to perform the harbour operator duties under HOA3, it is inconceivable that any third party operator could compete to perform the HOA3 services. CMAL has considered whether a reasonable alternative or substitute (to appointing CFL) exists for the delivery of HOA3. It has concluded that there is no such alternative or substitute. While in theory it would be possible for a third party harbour operator to deploy its own second workforce to perform the harbour operations (alongside the CFL workforce performing the ferry operations), in practice this would be ruinously inefficient, requiring a substantial increase (near doubling) of the overall workforce in the harbour, significant under-utilisation and excess capacity in individual staff members (who would be prevented from performing a dual role), and significant staff accommodation challenges at harbours where available space is already constrained. While the potential for a transfer of certain staff from CFL to a third party harbour operator might potentially create a level of competition, this would in itself be an artificial solution that would come at the cost of inefficiency and unworkability, because CFL would then have to recruit to back-fill roles (including attracting new staff at remote locations) and this would not address the fundamental concern of having an inflated over-sized harbour based workforce with significant under-utilisation and excess capacity across two operators and significant physical constraints for in-harbour accommodation. The absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement but instead reflects the reality of how these important lifeline ferry services can continue to be delivered in an effective, efficient, sustainable and financially responsible way. (SC Ref:812671)",
    "initiationType": "tender",
    "tender": {
        "id": "CMAL0322",
        "legalBasis": {
            "id": "32014L0024",
            "scheme": "CELEX"
        },
        "title": "HOA3 - Harbour Operating Agreement",
        "status": "complete",
        "classification": {
            "scheme": "CPV",
            "id": "63721000",
            "description": "Port and waterway operation services and associated services"
        },
        "mainProcurementCategory": "services",
        "description": "This notice concerns the award of a harbour operating agreement, known as HOA3, by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) to CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL). CMAL is the statutory harbour authority at certain harbours and other marine facilities and is responsible for the operation, management, maintenance and improvement of them. CFL is due to be appointed by Transport Scotland on behalf of Scottish Ministers as the operator of lifeline ferry services in the Clyde and Hebrides, under a ferry services contract known as CHFS3. Please refer to this notice published by Transport Scotland for further details: Notice ID: MAY529943. The CHFS3 services will call at the CMAL harbours. CMAL is awarding the HOA3 to CFL because it is the operator of CHFS3 and because of the need to have the same operator for both the ferry services and the harbour operations as explained in this notice.",
        "lots": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "description": "CMAL intends to award the HOA3 to CFL following the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a call for competition under regulation 48 of the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016. Regulation 48(1)(c)(ii) is applicable in this case due to the unique position of CFL as the lifeline ferry services operator under CHFS3, due to which competition for HOA3 is absent for technical reasons. Both HOA3 and CHFS3 involve the performance of harbour based duties at CMAL harbours: The harbour operating duties include: assessing navigational safety in the harbour, vessels mooring operations, operating pier equipment, inspecting harbour assets and reporting on defects, management of navigation, collection of third party harbour charges, liaison with third party tenants and harbour users, housekeeping (including cleaning slipways, cleaning ladders, weed-killing, septic tank emptying, potable water testing), managing waste at the harbours (generated on the harbour and from vessels), dealing with dangerous goods in harbour areas, managing harbour user conflict, managing harbour health and safety including permits to work, and acting as the first point of contact to deal with harbour emergencies and security issues. These duties are allocated to CFL under HOA3. The harbour based ferry operations duties include: managing ferry bookings (including sale of tickets), checking-in customers, face-to-face dealings with ferry customers, marshalling ferry traffic and pedestrians and manging ferry disruptions. These duties are allocated to CFL under CHFS3. Currently, and historically, the harbour operating duties and the harbour based ferry operations duties have always been delivered by the same operator entity, with the same workforce deployed to perform all the duties. Under this arrangement, individual staff members perform dual roles covering both harbour operations and ferry operations. For the reasons explained below, this is the only reasonable and viable means of delivering the services. CFL is the current incumbent operator of both the harbour operations (under a HOA2 contract awarded by CMAL on 22 August 2016) and the lifeline ferry services (under a CHFS2 contract award by The Scottish Ministers on 22 August 2016).",
                "hasOptions": false,
                "awardCriteria": {
                    "criteria": [
                        {
                            "name": "negotiated price based on agreed contract",
                            "type": "cost",
                            "description": "100"
                        }
                    ]
                },
                "status": "cancelled"
            }
        ],
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "deliveryAddresses": [
                    {
                        "region": "UKM6"
                    },
                    {
                        "region": "UKM8"
                    },
                    {
                        "region": "UKM6"
                    },
                    {
                        "region": "UKM8"
                    }
                ],
                "deliveryLocation": {
                    "description": "Ports and harbours within the CHFS operating area"
                },
                "relatedLot": "1"
            }
        ],
        "procurementMethod": "limited",
        "procurementMethodDetails": "Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition",
        "coveredBy": [
            "GPA"
        ],
        "procurementMethodRationaleClassifications": [
            {
                "scheme": "TED_PT_AWARD_CONTRACT_WITHOUT_CALL",
                "id": "D_TECHNICAL",
                "description": "The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons"
            }
        ],
        "procurementMethodRationale": "See Additional information at VI.3"
    },
    "awards": [
        {
            "id": "020411-2025-CMLA0322-1",
            "relatedLots": [
                "1"
            ],
            "status": "active",
            "suppliers": [
                {
                    "id": "GB-FTS-106818",
                    "name": "CalMac Ferries Limited"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "063715-2025-CMAL0322-1",
            "relatedLots": [
                "1"
            ],
            "status": "active",
            "suppliers": [
                {
                    "id": "GB-FTS-106818",
                    "name": "CalMac Ferries Limited"
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "parties": [
        {
            "id": "GB-FTS-909",
            "name": "Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (Utility)",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (Utility)"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "Municipal Buildings, Fore Street",
                "locality": "Port Glasgow",
                "region": "UKM83",
                "postalCode": "PA14 5EQ",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "telephone": "+44 1475749920",
                "email": "procurement@cmassets.co.uk"
            },
            "roles": [
                "buyer",
                "centralPurchasingBody"
            ],
            "details": {
                "url": "http://www.cmassets.co.uk",
                "buyerProfile": "https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA12082",
                "classifications": [
                    {
                        "scheme": "TED_CA_TYPE",
                        "id": "BODY_PUBLIC",
                        "description": "Body governed by public law"
                    },
                    {
                        "scheme": "COFOG",
                        "description": "Harbour Authority & Asset Owner"
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "id": "GB-FTS-106818",
            "name": "CalMac Ferries Limited",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "CalMac Ferries Limited"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "The Ferry Terminal",
                "locality": "Gourock",
                "region": "UKM83",
                "postalCode": "PA19 1QP",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "telephone": "+44 7983199180"
            },
            "roles": [
                "supplier"
            ],
            "details": {
                "scale": "large"
            }
        },
        {
            "id": "GB-FTS-910",
            "name": "Greenock Sheriff Court",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "Greenock Sheriff Court"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "1 Nelson Street",
                "locality": "Greenock",
                "postalCode": "PA15 1TR",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "telephone": "+44 1475787073",
                "email": "greenock@scotcourts.gov.uk"
            },
            "roles": [
                "reviewBody"
            ],
            "details": {
                "url": "https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/the-courts/court-locations/greenock-sheriff-court-and-justice-of-the-peace-court"
            }
        }
    ],
    "buyer": {
        "id": "GB-FTS-909",
        "name": "Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (Utility)"
    },
    "contracts": [
        {
            "id": "020411-2025-CMLA0322-1",
            "awardID": "020411-2025-CMLA0322-1",
            "status": "active",
            "value": {
                "amount": 70000000,
                "currency": "GBP"
            },
            "dateSigned": "2025-05-12T00:00:00+01:00"
        },
        {
            "id": "063715-2025-CMAL0322-1",
            "awardID": "063715-2025-CMAL0322-1",
            "status": "active",
            "value": {
                "amount": 67440000,
                "currency": "GBP"
            },
            "dateSigned": "2025-09-23T00:00:00+01:00"
        }
    ],
    "links": [
        {
            "rel": "canonical",
            "href": "https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000798469"
        }
    ],
    "language": "en",
    "bids": {
        "statistics": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "measure": "bids",
                "relatedLot": "1",
                "value": 1
            },
            {
                "id": "2",
                "measure": "smeBids",
                "relatedLot": "1",
                "value": 0
            },
            {
                "id": "3",
                "measure": "foreignBidsFromEU",
                "relatedLot": "1",
                "value": 0
            },
            {
                "id": "4",
                "measure": "foreignBidsFromNonEU",
                "relatedLot": "1",
                "value": 1
            },
            {
                "id": "5",
                "measure": "electronicBids",
                "relatedLot": "1",
                "value": 1
            }
        ]
    }
}