Dominican Republic Canceled16-050B

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IFB# 16-050B Dominican Republic Tender

August 13, 2020

Freight Tender
Food for Progress Program / Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Tender Number: 16-050B
Date: August 13, 2020
WBSCM Commodity Solicitation Number 2000007234
WBSCM Freight Solicitation Number 2000007235

Muller Shipping Corporation, New York, as sub-contractor to LifeLink Logistics and acting for an on behalf of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), requests firm offers of U.S. and non-U.S. flag tanker vessels for the carriage of commodities under the Food for Progress program on the following basis:

Cargo: Up to approximately 840 MT Crude Degummed Soybean Oil in (CDSO) Bulk
WBSCM S.O.: 5000636380
Laycan: October 12-22, 2020
Loading: 1-2SB, 1-2SP, All USA Port Ranges
Discharging: 1-2SB 1SP Rio Haina, Dominican Republic
Load Terms: Free In with No Demurrage/No Despatch/No Detention
Discharge: Berth Terms with No Demurrage/No Despatch/No Detention

SUBMISSION OF FREIGHT OFFERS:
To determine lowest landed cost, all carriers are required to submit offers electronically for the cargoes advertised by this tender via the USDA Web Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) system for the Solicitation Number(s) referenced above. All offers are subject to all requirements of WBSCM and of the afore-mentioned Solicitation(s), including the deadline(s) for submission of bids therein. Freight offers are due no later than 10:00 a.m. U.S. Central Time (11:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time) on August 17, 2020.

All offers must remain valid through close of business U.S. Eastern time August 19, 2020. No phone offers or offers via e-mail will be accepted.

The Web Based Supply Chain Management system can be accessed through the following website: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=WBSCM

Carriers must be assigned an USDA eAuthentication logon ID and password to access the WBSCM system. Contact the WBSCM Help Desk for information regarding logon IDs, passwords, and WBSCM system questions or concerns:

Telephone: (877) 927-2648
E-mail: WBSCM.ServiceDesk@caci.com

Offers 'subject open' will NOT repeat NOT be considered. Offers combining cargoes should be submitted as a separate firm offer with an indication that the rate offered is valid if cargoes are combined.

This program is subject to budget constraints which could affect the final quantity purchased and awarded. Offerors should therefor consider offering vessels to carry a range of tonnages tons in the event that the quantity purchased is more or less than the quantity stated in this tender. Contracted quantity will be on Min/Max basis.

Mississippi River including but not north of Baton Rouge to be considered as one port; Colombia River District including Portland to be considered as one port; San Francisco Bay area including Sacramento and Stockton to be considered as one port. For offers basis U.S. Great Lakes utilizing feeder vessels, offer to include name and details of feeder vessels.

Offers submitted under this invitation are required to have a canceling date no later than the last contract Layday. Vessels which are offered with a canceling date beyond the Laydays specified above will not be considered.

Owners to provide Fourteen (14) day load port pre-advice of vessel's readiness to load. Pre-advice notice must be received at office of Muller Shipping Corp. prior to 1100 New York time on a regular business day to be considered received on that day. If pre-advice is received after 1100 New York time on a regular business day or on a weekend/holiday, pre-advice will be considered received on the next business day.

Terms/Conditions:

1. Vessel Restrictions:
(a) Tankers, ITB tanker barges and towed tanker barges will be considered. Vessel must be classed highest in Lloyd's Register or its' equivalent.

(b) Non-U.S. flag vessels must not be older than fifteen (15) years. Year of original construction, not rebuilt date, to govern.

(c) All vessels 15 years and older and all ocean-going barges must have all openings to cargo spaces and hatches' covers tightly sealed with tape or by other means to assure watertight integrity. The sealing shall be done to the satisfaction of attending NCB surveyor as attested by a special survey. Cost of sealing hatch covers/openings to cargo spaces as well as special survey fees shall be for vessel owner's account. Special survey certificate shall in no way affect owner's liability and responsibilities toward the cargo.

(d) Any extra insurance on cargo and/or freight as a result of Vessel's age, class, type, flag, or ownership to be for Owners' account. Any documentary evidence of overage premium waivers or reductions is to be furnished with offer. Cost for additional or increased insurance premiums related to or resulting from lighterage operations, if any, are to be for Owners’ or Operator’s account at the rates assessed to cargo interests regardless of any waiver or reductions afforded to mother vessels.

(e) Owners are responsible for assuring that performing Vessel is fully compliant at the time of fixing with all international regulations and protocols regarding the carriage of the products(s) named herein, including MARPOL 73/78 Annex II Revisions, as well as all regulations of the countries of loading and discharge. Owners to certify in their offer that the vessel offered, and any substitute vessel proposed, meets or exceeds the Ship Type 2 Tank Configuration requirements of the IBC Code, or alternatively, that the vessel meets all requirements for Ship Type 3 Chemical Tankers and related exemption requirements laid out in MARPOL Annex II regulation 4.1.3; that the Certificate of Fitness for the vessel indicates that the vessel is entitled to operate under the provisions of this regulation; that all Flag State and Port State authorizations have been received or confirmed, as necessary; and that the Owners can confirm that the vessel will be permitted to berth and load or discharge at all ports named or contemplated herein. Owners should be prepared to submit copies of documentation evidencing compliance with MARPOL regulations upon request at the time offers are submitted.

The Shipping Document containing information prescribed by IBC Code Chapter 17 will be provided to Owners by each commodity supplier furnishing products covered by this charter party. This will be furnished to Owners promptly after the supplier has been provided with the bill of lading number(s), vessel tank information, and any other data necessary for issuing the Shipping Document.

(f) Upon arrival at discharge port(s) Vessel to present to receivers, not later than presentation of NOR and prior to commencement of discharge, current and valid calibration charts or tables for each tank.

2. Only clean offers of named vessels with full particulars will be considered. Offerors are encouraged to include the following information: Name of vessel and flag / Full style vessel owner/operator / Year built / Length overall / Beam / Classification / Type / Vessel's actual warranted service speed / Number of tanks / Number of pumps/systems, capacity / Current employment and cargo, contracted or anticipated / Current position of vessel including latitude/longitude / Laydays / Vessel ETA at load port and proposed itinerary / Maximum fully loaded draft of vessel. Upon request, offerors to furnish additional documentation to Charterer’s agents, such as the vessel’s maritime classification certificates, most recent special survey documents, form Q88, evidence of insurance, etc.

3. All vessels utilized for this cargo, including lighter vessels, must pass NIOP/FOSFA inspection before loading and otherwise comply with the Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fats Association Ltd. (FOSFA) "Operational Procedures for All Ships Engaged in the Ocean and Short Sea Carriage and Transhipment of Oils and Fats for Edible and Oleo-Chemical Use", or as indicated in the PFA CP. Offer to specify whether tanks are mild steel, mild steel coated, or stainless steel construction. If coated, must be fit for food grade products/carriage of oils and fats.

4. Offers must certify that the last three cargoes in the vessel tanks, tank lines, hoses and pumping systems prior to any contract made under this IFB were unleaded and non-toxic and do not appear on the FOSFA List of Banned Immediate Previous Cargoes and that the most recent of these cargoes does appear on the FOSFA List of Acceptable Previous Cargoes. Full particulars on the three most recent prior cargoes are also to be included by their chemical names directly in the offer (no abbreviations, no trade names), beginning with the most recent and in order of last three cargoes as loaded. Owners must stipulate exactly the last three cargoes carried, without statements of "and or" or "will be". Further, cargo names must be spelled out without abbreviations.

For ship's tanks that have been newly coated or fully re-coated and have not carried at least three cargoes subsequent to the new/re-coating, owners are to list any cargoes that have been carried in those tanks, pumps and lines after the new/re-coating, otherwise subject to the above. In addition, owners must furnish with their offer a copy of a survey certificate from a FOSFA-approved surveyor, dated not more than six months prior to the offer date, attesting that the vessel (all tanks, whether or not new/re-coated) is in compliance with FOSFA requirements for the carriage of edible oils.

In the event that any of the last three cargoes were not food grade cargoes and if vessel tanks fail to pass initial inspection by the surveyor, additional test for trace cargoes to be evidenced by means of a wall wash test at Owner’s expense.

For lighterage vessels only: If owners cannot provide information on immediate prior cargoes at the time of offer, offeror shall acknowledge that they will not be permitted to utilize any lighterage vessel that has not been inspected and approved prior to loading by a FOSFA-approved surveyor at the load and/or discharge port. Any time lost at load and/or disports for inspection or other delays in providing suitable lighterage vessel to be at Owners expense.

5. Loading/Discharging terms:

(a) Loading terms: Free in at the average rate of 150 metric tons per running hour (without guarantee), with no demurrage, no despatch, no detention.

(b) Discharging terms: Full Liner Berth terms discharge with no demurrage, no despatch, no detention. Discharge into on-shore tank(s) is anticipated, with receiver option to receive commodity directly into trucks. Receivers indicate, without guarantee, anticipated intake/takeaway of 150 metric tons per hour.

Rates offered should be basis two discharge berths with a stated freight reduction/discount if only one discharge berth is used for the quantity awarded.

Notice of Vessel’s readiness to discharge must be tendered and accepted at the office of the Receivers or their agents between the hours of 0900 and 1600 hours local time on a normal business day, holidays excepted, Vessel having been entered at the custom house, accompanied by all necessary passes, and with any and all required lightering completed. .

Vessel to provide all necessary equipment (including main/ stripping pumps, hoses and reducers) in good working order and necessary steam to effect discharge of the cargo into shore tanks and/or trucks. Pumps must have a minimum pressure of 50 PSI with pumping capacity of at least 150 MT per hour and able to pump water with adequate pressure to clean hoses and pipes at the discharge terminal.

(c) Any cargo fixed under this freight tender to be loaded last-in and discharged first-out.

6. Lightering at Disport: In the event vessel has to lighten at the discharge port(s), whether full lightering or partial lightering, all lightering operations shall be at ship owner’s time, risk and expense. Lighter vessels, if used, must be geared ocean-going vessels classed highest in Lloyds or equivalent, and certified by licensed surveyor that all cargo compartments are clean and entirely fit to receive and carry the commodity(ies) covered by this contract with all necessary pumps, hoses and reducers in good working order. Lighter vessels are subject to all relevant terms and provisions of Clause numbers 3 and 4 herein.

Any lighterage is to be accomplished within the territorial waters of the country of the named discharge port(s) unless otherwise approved by Charterers and USDA. Shipowners to obtain any/all required permission from local authorities, as applicable, for lighterage.

If owners intend to lighten, the offer should specify the cost of lightering, whether full or partial lightering. If lightering is not performed at the discharge port and vessel directly discharges at berth USDA will deduct the lightering cost from the ocean freight.

7. Freight rate to be quoted per MT, basis one loading port/one discharge port, plus additional freight per MT for additional load ports, if used. Freight rate quotations must provide per metric ton breakdown of rates (as applicable) for: a) Ocean transportation; b) Cost of lightening.

8. Both U.S. and foreign flag offers that are responsive to this tender will be considered, with no negotiation permitted.

9. Provisions applicable to U.S. Flag vessels
(a) U.S. Flag approved freight rates will be reduced to a level not higher than Maritime Administration fair and reasonable rate in the event that originally approved vessel is substituted by a lower cost vessel (including tug and/or barge).

(b) For U.S. Flag vessels loading less than a full cargo, the less than full cargo freight rate will be subject to reduction to meet any revised Maritime Administration freight rate guideline due to vessel loading other additional cargo.

(c) U.S. Flag offers will not be considered if the vessel operator has not provided the Maritime Administration with the vessel costs prior to submission of the offer.

(d) U.S. Flag vessels which require approval from the Maritime Administration to participate in preference cargoes because of Operating Differential Subsidy (ODS), contractual constraints or because of reflagging/foreign construction issues must obtain such MARAD approval prior to submission of bids.

(e) One-way rates must be quoted in addition to round trip rates for non-liner U.S. Flag vessels whose date of original construction exceeds fifteen years from date of fixture.

10. No substitution of vessels allowed unless approved by all parties concerned. Substitution requests must be presented within a reasonable time for consideration by Charterers/USDA. All vessel substitutions must be vetted through the USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service. The proposed substitute vessel must be of the same service category as the originally awarded vessel. This applies to both U.S. and foreign flag vessel substitutions. The proposed substitute vessel must also appear on the applicable Maritime Administration U.S. or foreign flag vessel list which can be accessed using the following URL: http://www.marad.dot.gov/ships_shipping_landing_page/cargo_preference/c….

11. Cargo covered under this contract may not be relet to another carrier or operator without the written authorization of Charterers and USDA.

12. Cargo covered by this tender not to be sublet, nor carried under any slot-charter arrangement, and Non-vessel Operating Common Carriers (NVOCC) may not be employed to carry U.S. or Foreign Flag shipments.

13. Transshipment is not permitted.

14. In case of part cargoes, any additional completion cargo(es) must be duly separated, must be compatible and non-injurious to cargo(es) covered by this tender, must be detailed in offer or approved by Charterers/USDA if contracted after fixture of Charterers CDSO. Vessel's itinerary and geographic proximity of completion cargo(es) will be taken into consideration by Charterer/USDA in approval of such cargo(es) in order not to unduly impede delivery of Charterers CDSO cargo(es) to the discharge port.

15. Owners to provide vessel tank inspection certificate evidencing cleanliness all tanks to be loaded for this fixture. Inspection to be performed and certificate to be issued by an independent surveyor at owner's expense.

16. On completion of Loading Master and or owner and or agent to send a Sailing Notice to Muller Shipping Corporation, New York, Fax: 516-256-7701/email cargo@mullershipping.com. Said notice to state vessel name, flag, quantity on board in Metric Tons, stowed in tank numbers, Bill of lading date and loaded draft of vessel ETA Rio Haina.

17. Clean original bills of lading marked “Freight Payable as per Charter Party” to be released immediately upon completion of loading along with copies of all required inspection documents. "To Order" bills of lading may be required. Multiple sets of bills of lading may be required.

Bill(s) of Lading to be issued in accordance with shore tank figures. If any discrepancy between ship and shore figures, shore figures will prevail.

Bill(s) of Lading to be issued and released to Charterer’s Agents within twenty-four hours from the time final bills of lading or B/L masters are tendered to Owner’s load port agents for signature.

18. The following documentation is to be obtained by Owners and released to Charterer’s agents immediately upon completion of loading and prior to sailing.
(a) FOSFA Combined Masters Certificate.
(b) FOSFA Certificate of Compliance, Cleanliness and Suitability of Ship’s Tanks
(c) Copy of Notice to the Master instructing him to follow the IASC heating instructions.
(d) Vessel stow plan

19. Charterers/Receivers reserve the right to nominate agents at the discharge port(s) and if such right is exercised Owner's to appoint vessel agents at discharging port(s) as nominated by Charterer’s, with agency fees for Owners' account, but not to exceed customary applicable fees. If Charterer’s waive their option to nominate agents at the discharge port(s) Owners to nominate an agent of their own choosing, subject to Charterer’s approval, with agency fees for Owner’s account

20. Freight Payment: Payment of one-hundred percent (100%) of freight will be paid directly to the carrier by the USDA upon confirmation by the cooperating sponsor of vessel arrival at the first or sole discharge port, subject to terms and conditions of governing charter party clause 27. Freight payment will be made through WBSCM. In event owner has not paid the carrying/interest charges if any, CCC/USDA will have the right deduct same from the ocean freight.

If owners fail to tender vessel within the Laydays, and whether or not the option to cancel the charter/booking is exercised, the owners are to be fully responsible for all charges attributable to the failure to tender and be accepted before the canceling date of the charter, whether accruing to charterer or to the United States Government as donor, including but not limited to carrying charges covering interest, storage and insurance. In which case it will be a condition of payment of freight that owners submit as part of their documentation "paid" invoices from the suppliers for carrying charges or a certification from the suppliers that carrying charges did not accrue. Ultimately, the USDA has the authority to deduct any carrying charges due from the payment of the ocean freight.

21. Owners must guarantee that the performing vessel fully complies with the International Safety Management (ISM) Code and the International Ship and Port Facilities Security (ISPS) Code issued in accordance with International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (1974) as amended (SOLAS) and will remain compliant for the entirety of her employment under this charter party. Upon request, Owners are to provide Charterers with a copy of the relevant document of compliance (DOC) and Safety Management Certificate (SMC) in regard to the ISM Code and the International Ship Security Certificate (ISSC) in regard to the ISPS Code, or other evidence satisfactory to Charterers. Owners are to remain fully responsible for any and all consequences resulting directly or indirectly from any matters arising in connection with this vessel and the ISM and/or ISPS code(s). Non-compliance with the requirements of the ISM code or ISPS code shall be deemed a breach of contract. Submission of an offer against this IFB will be deemed an acknowledgement by vessel Owner/Operator that these cargoes are to be discharged at port(s) and/or terminals/berths that may not be in compliance with ISPS requirements, and Owner will have no recourse against Charterers or Receivers for subsequent inspections, delays, deviations or other security-related requirements or expenses resulting from calling at such port(s) and/or terminals/berths.

22. Sub-standard vessels and operators: Section 408 of the U.S. Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998, Public Law 105-383 (46 U.S.C. Section 2302(E)), establishes, effective January 1, 1999, with respect to non-U.S. Flag vessels and operators/owners, that substandard vessels and vessels operated by operators/owners of substandard vessels are prohibited from the carriage of government impelled (Preference) cargo(es) for up to one year after such substandard determination has been published electronically. As the cargo advertised in this IFB is a government impelled (Preference) cargo, offerors must warrant that vessel(s) and owner/operator are not disqualified to carry such government impelled (Preference) cargo(es).

23. Owners warrant that vessel offered is free from any liens and/or encumbrances.

24. In case of claims for loss, damage or shrinkage in transit, or any other claims against the carrier, the rules and conditions governing commercial shipments and the provisions of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act of 1936 shall not apply as to the period within which notice thereof shall be given to carriers, or period within which claim therefore shall be made or suit instituted.

25. Owners to be responsible for any cargo loss, shortage, or damage between the bill of lading weight and the weight delivered at the port of discharge.

26. Commission: 1.67% on gross freight / dead-freight is payable to Charterer's Agent / Freight Forwarder, LifeLink Logistics.

All other terms and conditions as per the CRS Pro-forma charter party, which is available upon request from Muller Shipping Corp.

For information contact Muller Shipping Corporation, tel. 516-256-7700.

END OF FREIGHT TENDER