Navy awards SeaPort Next Generation contracts worth $5 billion per year

By Justin Katz / December 3, 2018 at 5:54 PM

The Navy today awarded 1,870 companies indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity, multiple award contracts for Seaport Next Generation, the next iteration of the services contracting vehicle SeaPort-e, according to a Defense Department statement.

"The government estimates approximately [$5 billion] of services will be procured per year via orders issued under the SeaPort-NxG multiple award contracts," the statement reads.

"The MACs have a five-year base period of performance with an additional five-year ordering period option," the statement continues.

The services included in SeaPort Next Generation are broadly categorized into engineering services and program management services. Within those two categories, they are further broken down into 23 functional areas. The work spans across the Navy's major commands and agencies, with the exception of Naval Air Systems Command, which has pursued its own services contracting vehicle.

How the work is categorized is one of several changes from SeaPort-e to Next Generation. Another change requires prime contractors to have experience in direct support of the Navy. SeaPort-e required contractors to have experience supporting the Defense Department.

The requirement was changed as a result of "thousands" of companies holding multiple award contracts under SeaPort-e, but never competing for task orders, according to Navy spokeswoman Colleen O'Rourke.

"Due to the administrative burden to the Navy of carrying thousands of [multiple award contracts] and the fact that the Navy has had healthy competition with the vendor base that is performing work for it, it was determined that experience in direct support of the Department of the Navy would be the requirement to qualify for a SeaPort [Next Generation] MAC," she said in a March 8 email to Inside the Navy.

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