P&O Maritime has lost a UK government ship management contract it had held for the past 10 years.
AW Ship Management (AWSM) will take over management of the research vessel Cefas Endeavour (built 2003) effective 1 April 2020.
The contract with the UK’s Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) is for an initial five years, with optional extensions through to 2033.
AWSM is said to have secured the contract following a “comprehensive and effective procurement process”. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The 74 metre Cefas Endeavour is used to deliver an extensive monitoring programme to support national and international stock assessments and to provide scientific advice on marine fish stocks.
The vessel is also available for third party charter to commercial or international government customers.
The procurement process, launched in March 2019, concluded with contract signature in late November, but Cefas said it was unable to publically announce the deal during the UK pre-election period last month.
“The Cefas Endeavour is the UK government’s largest, most capable vessel delivering domestic marine scientific research and monitoring, and the data collected onboard would not be possible without a trusted partner to manage our vessel services,” said Cefas chief executive Tom Karsten.
“We are grateful to P&O Maritime for delivering this comprehensive vessel management service to Cefas since 2009, during which time they made a notable contribution to the successful provision of essential marine and fisheries data and evidence to UK Government.”
