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The purpose for amendment no. 2 is to respond to the following questions:

2. Question: Under this contract vehicle is it okay for foreign nationals to be working on the project? Our company is a global company some of the industry analysts will be from the UK, Canada, India and Saudi Arabia. Project management will be led by myself in San Antonio. I have not been able to find anything (U.S. Code / FAR) that would specifically preclude non USPERs who are employees of our company from working on this contract.

Response: The principal investigator must be a U.S. company.

3. Question: Our company has a UEI ABCDEFGHIJKL and several NIACs in the 541xxx series related to scientific, markets, and consulting are their other NAICS (541690) codes besides that we could use?

Response: NAICS Code 541690 is the only NAICS code that should be used under RFP Solicitation No. 693JF723R000003.

4. Question: Final question, for port bunkering in LMR and the gulf coast you’re only concerned with port operations (bunkering etc.) that pertain to these vessels?

Response: As far as bunkering, the goal of this project is to create a very clear picture of the bunkering methods, the bunkering fuel, the bunkering frequency and location (incl. port infrastructure) that pertain to OSVs and Tug/Tow boats. To be noted that the study will consider offshore bunkering operations (not in port/terminal) as well if such operation is part of ship’s operation profile.

5. Question: We are interested in submitting a proposal for the GoM OSV RFP. Is there a rubric by which the proposals will be evaluated that you are able to share?

Response: A successful applicant should clearly respond to the bullets in Section 2 and the Criteria Evaluation questions in Section D.

The purpose for this amendment is to correct page 4 under D.2: Content and Form of Application to read as follows:

1. Clear and accurate methodology for documenting the profile of the Gulf of Mexico OSVs and LMR tug/tow boat industry as well as port infrastructure and bunkering operations.

The Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Maritime Environmental and Technical Assistance (META) program is issuing this request for proposals (RFP) for conducting a feasibility study on the future energy options for offshore support vessels (OSV) operating in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and tug/tow boats operating on Lower Mississippi River (LMR). The study is intended to serve as a reference for vessel operators that are planning to consider alternative energy solutions for their existing or future fleet, technology developers including engine manufacturers, and relevant stakeholders such as repair/maintenance facilities. For the LMR, which is navigable without locks and dams, the types of vessels to be examined shall include inland tug/tow boats only. Coastal or articulated tugs will not be part of this study.