Award notice observed
Latest variant observed by Bidwake on .
Open this official Contracts Finder notice
Record references
- Release reference
020f33a0-c25a-45e0-8ce0-474cce0ac3b0-804839- Published tags
- award
Loading records…
Public procurement
See the published facts, notice history, awards and supplier links in one place. Open the original Contracts Finder notice for the full record.
ocds-b5fd17-6f96edd7-1bd4-406f-9ab3-990507889cd5Published facts
020f33a0-c25a-45e0-8ce0-474cce0ac3b0-837709The Channel Aviation Emergency Search and Rescue (CAESAR) contract was implemented in March 2022, at pace, to respond to the rising emergency in the English Channel caused by small boat crossings. The service provides a combination of fixed wing unmanned aircraft to provide a multi-layered operational picture over the Channel which allows His Majestys Coastguard (HMCG), and other Government operators, to identify vessels in the Channel, and then determine those vessels at most need of rescue in order to prioritise available surface assets and prevent deaths. CAESAR was implemented as a dedicated Channel capability, under the existing UK Search and Rescue Helicopter (UKSARH) service provision, freeing the MCAs Air Surveillance and Verification service, which had been providing a stop-gap interim service, to return to delivering the role it was designed for, whilst providing a structured service which better meet the operational need of HMCG in the English Channel. The UK Second Generation Search and Rescue Aviation programme (UKSAR2G), which will subsume both current Search and Rescue Helicopter and fixed wing Air Surveillance and Verification contracts, will come into effect between October 2024 and December 2026. However, since the incident data used to inform the UKSAR2G service was based on data up to the end of 2019, and small boat crossings have risen since that data, the data used to inform the UKSAR2G procurement is not reflective of the current demand in the Channel; UKSAR2G service provision cannot meet the national requirement and address the demand in the Channel. The MCA has commissioned data analysis to test the UKSAR2G model against a more up to date data set (up until the end of 2023), which indicated that the UKSAR2G service cannot also meet the current increased Channel demand. While further work is required to understand how best to quantify and mitigate the shortfall, there remains a pressing and immediate need to ensure that HM Coastguard is sufficiently resourced to respond to incidents in the Channel. With the current CAESAR contract due to conclude in February 2025, and the need to provide Bristow Helicopters with 4 months-notice of a contract extension, the only achievable and responsible course of action which meets the needs of the MCA is to extend the service as is. A one-year extension will provide time for the MCA to explore the options available with the UKSAR2G service to address any capability gap, in partnership with other Government delivery partners, to ensure the MCA has a cohesive and enduring capability to meet the aerial search and rescue demand of the UK under a single contracted service. The MCA continues to modify the UKSARH contract pursuant to Regulation 72 (1) (c), on the basis that the need for modification has been brought about by circumstances which a diligent contracting authority could not have foreseen.
Observed notice trail
Events follow the publisher date where one is available. “Seen by Bidwake” is the date this service first found the record.
Award notice observed
Latest variant observed by Bidwake on .
Open this official Contracts Finder notice
020f33a0-c25a-45e0-8ce0-474cce0ac3b0-804839Award record updated
Latest variant observed by Bidwake on .
Open this official Contracts Finder notice
020f33a0-c25a-45e0-8ce0-474cce0ac3b0-837709Awards and suppliers
Buyer: MCA - Maritime and Coastguard AgencySupplier: BRISTOW HELICOPTERS LIMITED
ocds-b5fd17-6f96edd7-1bd4-406f-9ab3-990507889cd5-1End dates, recurrence wording and links are shown as they appear in public notices. They do not create a new opportunity. If no later linked record appears here, that means Bidwake did not find one in the records it has loaded; it does not prove that none exists.