MARAD signs over $200M in contracts to rehabilitate marine vessels

Oct 21, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) has signed two contracts on Monday for the docking and rehabilitation of four of its marine vessels at an estimated cost of over $200M.

The awarding of the two contracts on Monday to Gopie Investments and Dockyard Inc. (Photo credit: MARAD)

The marine vessels that would be rehabilitated shortly are ML David P, ML Thompson, Barge Seamang and Split Barge. In a brief statement on its Facebook page, the Department stated that the contracts for the rehabilitation of the ML David P and ML Thompson were awarded to Gopie Investments Inc., while the contracts for Split Barge and Barge Seamang vessels were awarded to Dockyard Inc.

When the projects were opened back in April at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office, Kaieteur News had reported that four companies were vying to rehabilitate the vessels. Gopie Investment who was awarded the contracts had placed a bid of $19,554,480 to rehabilitate ML David P and $25,546,700 to rehabilitate ML Thompson. Dockyard Inc. had placed a bid of $183,550,699 for the works on Barge Seamang and $64,444,113 to rehabilitate Split Barge.

ML David P which is slated for rehabilitation (Photo credit: Guyana National Industrial Company Incorporated)

This year, some $270 million was approved in the budget to facilitate repairs to these vessels. Kaieteur News had previously reported that the Auditor General’s 2020 report had flagged a contract signed by the MARAD in 2019, where a contractor was paid the full contract sum in advance for the rehabilitation and docking of a vessel ,while there was no proof of the status of the works. The contract was to rehabilitate the ML David P vessel which is again slated for repairs this year.

It was reported that a $12.9 million contract was signed on November 27, 2019 to repair the vessel. The AG at the time of reporting in September 2021 stated that no proper documentation was provided to them for the works on this project despite the contractor being paid the entire contract sum before the end of 2019. As a result, the AG noted that this is a clear breach of the payment schedule of the contract.

Following the contract award on Monday, on Tuesday, the Department awarded a contract to Dax Contracting Services for the supply of spares for the maintenance of buoys and beacons for the Waini, Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice Rivers.