MAR to Operate, Maintain US Navy’s M/V Independence Research Ship

US Navy’s M/V Independence(click to view larger) MAR Inc., a Rockville, MD-based small business qualifier, received a maximum $30 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for operation, maintenance, and repair of the US Navy’s M/V Independence research ship. The M/V Independence is a diesel-powered vessel designed to operate as an ocean-going, world-wide research ship. The vessel’s home port is the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Port Hueneme, CA, approximately 70 miles north of Los Angeles. Originally built for the USAF to support space shuttle operations on the West Coast, the Independence is now owned by the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center (NFESC) and leased for oceanographic research… The M/V Independence offers the following capabilities: * placement, monitoring, and recovery of oceanographic equipment or hardware; * crew of 11 and an NFESC support team; * remotely operated underwater vehicle, diver, survey, cable installation/repair/recovery operations; and * NFESC offshore equipment. Under the contract, MAR will provide, among other things, research, development, testing, and evaluation of the ship’s undersea surveillance systems, load handling systems, acoustic array systems, cable system components, cable and system survivability studies, installation methods, test vessel support, and training range establishment and maintenance. Work will be performed in Port Hueneme, CA. […]