Shamrock Marine Towing & Salvage (70Z08421QBB109300)

B-419940.3,B-419940.4 Dec 27, 2021 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Shamrock Marine Towing & Salvage of Ocean City, New Jersey, protests the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. 70Z08421QBB109300, issued by the Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard, for services to support its aviation training program. The protester argues that the solicitation is unclear, prevents offerors from competing on an equal basis, and conflicts with the Service Contract Act. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  Shamrock Marine Towing & Salvage File:  B-419940.3; B-419940.4 Date:  December 27, 2021 John M. Manfredonia, Esq., Manfredonia Law Offices, LLC, for the protester. Gilbert E. Teal, II, Esq., Department of Homeland Security, for the agency. April Y. Shields, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest alleging that solicitation is unclear and fails to provide sufficient information for offerors to compete on a common basis is denied; to the extent protest alleges that the solicitation conflicts with the Service Contract Act, it is the Department of Labor, and not our Office, that is statutorily charged with interpreting and administering the Service Contract Act. DECISION Shamrock Marine Towing & Salvage of Ocean City, New Jersey, protests the terms of request for quotations (RFQ)[1] No. 70Z08421QBB109300, issued by the Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard, for services to support its aviation training program.  The protester argues that the solicitation is unclear, prevents offerors from competing on an equal basis, and conflicts with the Service Contract Act. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On April 27, 2021, the agency issued the solicitation as a combined synopsis/solicitation pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation part 12 (acquisition of commercial items) and subpart 13.5 (simplified procedures for certain commercial items), and as a total small business set-aside.  The solicitation seeks a contractor to provide and operate one or more vessels in support of the United States Coast Guard Aviation Training Program at the agency’s Air Station in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  AR, Tab B, Solicitation at 4.[2]  The solicitation explains that the mission of the Air Station Atlantic City is to “maintain aircrew proficiency by conducting helicopter hoists of equipment to and from underway vessels, helicopter delivery and recovery of rescue swimmers, and aerial delivery of dewatering pumps and other equipment to the water,” and that the contractor’s vessel or vessels would be responsible for supporting “helicopter hoisting and aerial delivery evolutions by Air Station Atlantic City.”  Id. at 5. The solicitation contemplates the award of a single indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, under which fixed-price task orders would be issued, for work to be performed over a 1‑year base period and four 1-year option periods.  Solicitation at 4. The solicitation provides for award on a lowest-price, technically acceptable basis, considering technical capability and understanding, past performance, and price.  Solicitation at 35.  Under the price evaluation factor, the solicitation requires offerors to provide “a unit price for all items.”  Id. at 36.  In this regard, the solicitation provides: The unit price for this requirement shall only include the cost for a standard training block.  The standard training block will be ONE (1) hour of contract vessel on scene time, not transit time to/from the training site from the contractor’s mooring/docking location.  Any training time used after the initial one hour session, will be billed in 30 minute intervals at 50% of the total cost of each hour.  Example:  A session of 1 hour and 10 minutes will be billed as 1.5 hours.  A session that is 1 hour and 35 minutes will be billed as 2 hours.  As a result, the contractor will only be paid for the actual training blocks used under this contract.  The Government will not be obligated to pay the contractor for unused training blocks under this contract.  Example:  400 training blocks are projected for the year, but only 350 are used.  The Government is not obligated to pay the remaining 50 blocks. Id.