---
title: "AERIAL DISPERSANT SPRAY SERVICES"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-02d43c"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02d43c"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02d43c.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02d43c.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "MARITIME & COASTGUARD AGENCY"
published: "2021-08-22"
---

# AERIAL DISPERSANT SPRAY SERVICES

Buyer: MARITIME & COASTGUARD AGENCY  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-02d43c

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## Summary

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency is conducting a procurement process for Aerial Dispersant Spray Services, classified under rescue services, located in Southampton, UK. This tender is currently in the Award stage, with the contract being awarded to 2Excel & RVL Group. The contract is valued at £9,922,000 and is set to commence on 1 February 2022, continuing until 31 January 2024, with an option for a one-year extension. This procurement has been classified under a limited procedure without prior publication of a call for competition, due to the technical constraints associated with the service required.

This procurement offers significant opportunities for businesses specialising in aviation services, particularly those with the capability to deliver aerial dispersion to manage marine oil spills. Companies that possess modified aircraft, such as Boeing 737 400s, and have the necessary regulatory approvals would be especially well-suited to compete in future tenders following the current contract's review. Additionally, businesses focusing on oil spill response technologies and services may find a pathway for growth by collaborating with or subcontracting to the primary suppliers involved in this contract.

## Notice

A short duration contract for aerial dispersant spray services.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The contract will provide aerial dispersant spray services to treat marine oil spills using two Boeing 737 400s fitted to carry an Oil Dispersant Spray System, guided by a King Air 200 Spotter Aircraft. The contract is for a complete service, including provision of aircraft, crew, maintenance of equipment and operation. The contract will be in place from 01 February 2022 to 31 January 2024, with an option for a further extension of up to one year, to enable the completion of a larger procurement of oil spill response services.

### Procurement Information

Aerial dispersant application is a key component of the UK's response to marine oil spills. The primary service is currently provided by RVL Aviation, the contract for which is due to expire on 31 January 2022, with supplementary aerial spray capacity provided under a Collaboration Agreement with 2Excel Aviation and Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL), also due to expire on 31 January 2022. MCA intends to run a competition to replace the services provided under the RVL Contract and the 2Excel Contract. MCA is in the process of reviewing its counter pollution resources to determine the future arrangements to be in place for the longer term. This review will not only encompass the capacity and type of countermeasures to be employed (dispersant, mechanical recovery etc.), but also the commercial arrangements to be used to source them, with the possibility of consolidating certain services. The review will conclude with a determination of the level and type of resource the MCA requires for its next generation counter pollution capability and the arrangements under which they will be contracted. Following this, the competition to replace the services provided under the RVL Contract and 2Excel Contract will take place. This review has been delayed due in part to MCA's intention to make the Aerial Dispersant Spray System it has developed for use in 737 400s under the RVL contract, for which MCA owns the intellectual property, available to non-incumbent bidders in any future spray procurement. The development and final approval of this system was itself delayed (although recently achieved) due to a combination of regulator interventions and the postponement of flight trials as a consequence of Covid-19. The entry of the 737-spray system into service and conformation of its suitability was required in order to inform the subsequent review of counter pollution resources. A further cause of the delay to the review of counter pollution resources was a delay, due to staff shortages caused by Covid-19, of the completion of the Oil Spill Risk Review, which was needed to help inform the review of resources. As the review of resources has not yet been completed, and as the time required for any non-incumbent bidders to procure the necessary equipment, aircraft and trained crew as well as to gain the regulatory approval needed will be considerable, it will not be possible to replace the current services from 1 February 2022. It has become apparent that introducing a new dispersant spray service and system will require a period of time which is longer than the limited time remaining prior to the re-tendering of the RVL Contract. As such, the MCA cannot maintain its current aerial spray capacity within the time required by investing in a new aerial spray service and system but must instead maintain the current service levels in the interim by contracting with an operator with both an extant aerial dispersant spray capability and capacity in its fleet. Consequently, there are currently only two operators in the UK with the necessary approvals, equipment and modified aircraft which can collectively deliver the capacity needed within the required timeframe: the MCA's current contractors, RVL Group, and 2Excel. As such, the MCA considers that the use of negotiated procedure without prior publication is permitted under Regulation 32 (2) (b) (i) where Competition is absent for technical reasons given that RVL Group are the only operator with the regulatory approvals currently in place to operate the 737 400 aerial dispersant spray system. The MCA does not consider that there are market participants other than the two incumbents who could stand up an aerial dispersant spray service within the required timeframe and maintain the current level of capacity the services collectively deliver. Currently, RVL and 2Excel/OSRL are the only suppliers with sufficient aircraft, spray equipment and crew not already committed to other customers.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/020559-2021 |
| Notice type | Tender 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 | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 22 Aug 2021 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 5 Aug 2021 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £9,922,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | MARITIME & COASTGUARD AGENCY |
| Locality | SOUTHAMPTON |
| Post town | Southampton |
| Postcode | N/A |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
| ITL 3 | TLJ32 Southampton |
| Local authority | Southampton |
| Electoral ward | Banister & Polygon |
| Westminster constituency | Southampton Itchen |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | 2EXCEL & RVL GROUP |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 75 - Administration, defence and social security services

### Codes

- 75252000 - Rescue services

## Release History

- 22 Aug 2021 at 21:45 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/020559-2021
- 12 Aug 2021 at 21:45 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/019661-2021

## Notice URLs

- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/maritime-and-coastguard-agency

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02d43c. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02d43c.json.