Air-sea rescue services (Норвегия - Тендер #48319779)

Voluntary ex-ante transparency notice - change of the type of rescue helicopter

Brief description of the contract:

The contract is for the delivery of helicopter services for Tromsø and Svalbard, and transport capacity for the police. A contract was signed with CHC Helikopter Service AS on 17 February 2021, after a tender contest was held on 9 April 2020.

According to the contract that was signed on 17 February 2021 with CHC Helikopter Service AS ("CHC"), for the provision of helicopter services for Tromsø and Svalbard, and transport capacity for the police, CHC were to provide the service by using S-92 helicopters. These helicopters were to be replaced over time with AS332L1 helicopters. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security ("JD") now intends to agree a change to the contract that involves CHC providing the service with S-92 helicopters for the entire contract period.

Brief description of the contract:

The contract is for the delivery of helicopter services for Tromsø and Svalbard, and transport capacity for the police. A contract was signed with CHC Helikopter Service AS on 17 February 2021, after a tender contest was held on 9 April 2020.

According to the contract that was signed on 17 February 2021 with CHC Helikopter Service AS ("CHC"), for the provision of helicopter services for Tromsø and Svalbard, and transport capacity for the police, CHC were to provide the service by using S-92 helicopters. These helicopters were to be replaced over time with AS332L1 helicopters. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security ("JD") now intends to agree a change to the contract that involves CHC providing the service with S-92 helicopters for the entire contract period.

Brief description of the contract:

The contract is for the delivery of helicopter services for Tromsø and Svalbard, and transport capacity for the police. A contract was signed with CHC Helikopter Service AS on 17 February 2021, after a tender contest was held on 9 April 2020.

According to the contract that was signed on 17 February 2021 with CHC Helikopter Service AS ("CHC"), for the provision of helicopter services for Tromsø and Svalbard, and transport capacity for the police, CHC were to provide the service by using S-92 helicopters. These helicopters were to be replaced over time with AS332L1 helicopters. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security ("JD") now intends to agree a change to the contract that involves CHC providing the service with S-92 helicopters for the entire contract period.

Explanation:

The described changes are not "significant", and are thus legal in accordance with the public procurement rules ("PPR") §28-1 (1) letter f, cf. § 28-2.

The change of helicopter type to S-92 for the entire contract period will only lead to minimal extra costs for JD (cf. below). The change does not involve JD having to compensate CHC for CHC"s extra costs connected to the continued use of S-92 helicopters compared to the transition to AS332L1 helicopters.

The extra cost that occurs is connected to the continued use of S-92, as S-92 has a somewhat higher fuel consumption than AS332L1. According to the contract, JD should pay for fuel consumption. The estimated fuel costs for JD will be NOK 7,741,800 (NOK 6,090,592 after the discount). There was a significant price difference in the contract between CHC and the supplier that came second, Lufttransport RW AS ("Lufttransport"). CHC had an evaluation sum of NOK 2,306,235,739 (10 points in the evaluation), and Lufttransport had an evaluation sum of NOK 2,575,133,872 (8,83 points in the evaluation). The price effect from the fuel costs will increase Lufttransport"s points score from 8.83 points to a maximum of 8.86 points on the price criterium, and increase the weighted total score by 0.01 point. It is thus clear that the increase fuel cost would not have affected the outcome of the contest, cf. the Public Procurement Regulations, § 28-2, letter a.

Neither would the change of helicopter type affected the outcome of the contest based on the criteria quality (weighted 35 percent) and risk (weighted 30 percent), cf. the Public Procurement Regulations, § 28-2, letter a. Lufttransport was considered to be somewhat better on quality and risk (with 9.73 and 10 points respectively) compared to CHC (with 9.59 and 9.62). It was the large price difference that was decisive for the outcome of the contest.

In addition the change allows for further advantages for JD, particularly connected to more efficient maintenance on Svalbard and robustness in the event of a "grounding" of a helicopter type.