Which helicopter meets all the requirements :confused:
and remains within the hospitals helipads landingweight limits?? :hmm:

NHV,

What do you consider experienced winch men and divers? Colleagues of mine as former NHV employees weren't so complimentary in their description. As for winch operators experience, just training an engineer to do it is not exactly the modern way.:ugh:

Check finalcheckplease previous post :ok:

most divers, winchmen are ex French,Dutch navy,BAF 40SQ,RAF.

And the winner is
 

Rumour around our place is that Bristow won this

From my side rumours confirm NHV is the preferred bidder.....

KMax - don't know which a/c would be suitable to meet all requirements but I do now some of the previous mentioned types don't live up to the required tender specifications at all.

RP

I believe NHV are not expected to be compliant in their bid but 1st round went to them. Then BHL, then CHC.

How can anyone win 1st round if you are not compliant? I would have thought the Dutch government would have looked at pricing AND compliancy before they announced their preferred bidder.

I suppose in their eyes NHV is 'compliant' for the running SAR contract so why not for this new one also......

RP

It probably depends on "compliant with what?"

RP and 212, you raise excellent questions.

I would answer by saying 'government procurement'

It looks like the Dutch Coast Guard will continue to work with NHV and there dolphins.
All rumors go that direction, official release is expected soon.

NHV with 365's... Ofcourse that is the perfect type to meet the tender requirements :ugh:

RP

That is what the Dutch seem to prefer.

If that is what they prefer, why ask for limited icing clearance and cat A performance etc.
I take it being 30% cheaper then the competition bidding with compliant A/c had nothing to do with this decission :yuk:

RP

yes of course, price is an important element.
Someone has to pay the bill.
In times of recession, people look for affordable possibilities.
This often leads not to most modern equipped aircraft because they can or are not willing pay for it.

Its fine to use less modern helicopters without the high tech equipment if that is what you asked for.

My point is: It's not right to award a contract to the cheapest bidder if they don't meet the specs laid down in the tender requirements cause the bid is not comparable to other bidders tendering with an aircraft which does meet the specs required....

RP

Non compliant but won it anyway. Bristows must be seething. I was kind of right except I expected more of the Dutch Government. My mistake.

NHV renewed the contract, for full SAR coverage based from Den Helder and Rotterdam, will commence on July 1, 2015 for an initial duration of 5 years with a possible extension of two times 1 year.

Congrats! :ok:

So a company operating helicopters which are non-compliant with a tender process win a contract on the basis of price (and/or politics :yuk:) and everyone thinks this is ok? :confused: If that's the case, why not just say in the tender document that companies tendering may also bid on a price basis with non-compliant helicopters until it's decided whether they want a proper fit-for-purpose, modern SAR service or a 20th century one? It strikes me that there have been some under-the-carpet dealings going on here to make sure that the odds were loaded against other bidders. I have no problem with NHV winning it as I have many friends working for that company, but at least it should be seen to have won it through a transparent process.

Compare this with the UK SAR using state-of-the art SAR aircraft and one wonders why the Netherlands, a country at the forefront of adopting modern technology would want to go for an inferior service (and note, I did not say from an inferior company - I have nothing at all against NHV and I think they've done well to grow as fast as they have in recent years, especially in their bids against bloated corporations like Bristow and CHC in West Africa :ok: ).

PW,

you think that the EC175 is not a modern technology, or?

JR