Tender: Solent Juvenile Sea Bass Survey Vessel Charter – Portsmouth Area

About

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) is seeking a supplier to provide a Portsmouth-area vessel and crew to support the long-running Solent Bass Survey to collect abundance and growth data for juvenile European sea bass. The vessel must accommodate 5 people (2 crew, 3 scientists), hold correct licences and H&M and P&I insurance, provide a sheltered rear deck, operate in shallow waters (site depths 10–30 m) across Chichester Harbour, Langstone Harbour, Southampton Water and the Solent, and have crew experienced in deploying and fishing with a local high-headline bass trawl (9 m headline, 12 m footrope, rubber bobbin footrope, 70 mm diagonal mesh, 4 mm knotless ‘Frymer’ codend liner with chafer panels). Tender award is subject to a physical vessel safety inspection and completion of the Vessel Safety Assessment & Inspections Document (VSAID), mandatory skipper safety briefings before each voyage, and reporting of any accidents or near misses (initial report within 24 hours and a full report at contract end). Deliverables are a yearly 5-day charter during the specified September sampling windows for 2026, 2027 and 2028, a fuel/carbon equivalent emissions report detailing engine capacity, distance travelled and fuel used, and a final accident/incident report.