Indonesian firm wins bidding for supply of 2 Navy vessels

MANILA, Philippines - An Indonesian company has won the bidding for the supply of two new vessels for the Navy.

Sources told The STAR a notice of award for the P4-billion acquisition of two strategic sealift vessels was issued to PT PAL Indonesia (Persero) late last month.

This was confirmed yesterday by Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo, who oversees the military’s upgrade efforts.

“Yes, I think there is a NOA (notice of award) already,” Manalo said when asked whether PT PAL had won the bidding for the project.

PT PAL offered to supply the two ships for $86,980,000 or about P3.864 billion, well within the approved budget of P4 billion.

The strategic sealift vessels can be used for civil-military operations and for transporting large number of soldiers, logistics and supplies. Each of the vessels can also accommodate three helicopters.

Nine companies bought bid documents for the project but only two of them submitted offers.

The other bidder, Daewoo International, was declared by the Bids and Awards Committee as ineligible due to its failure to meet certain technical requirements.

The other companies that had expressed interest in the project but had not submitted bids were Propmech Corp., Larsen & Toubro, Stone of David Tactical Equipment, STX Offshore Shipbuilding Co., Keppel Philippines Marine Inc., PT Citra Shipyard, and a joint venture between Astartez Defense and Rescue Solution Co. and Coastal Industries Pse. Ltd.

PT PAL underwent post-qualification process in the last quarter of 2013 before it was declared the winner. The post-qualification phase sought to verify the financial and technical documents submitted by the bidder.

The strategic sealift vessels acquisition project is one of the big-ticket items in the military’s upgrade program.