Irish government tenders for new Irish Coast Guard operator

The Irish Ministry of Transport is tendering for a new €800 million contract for the operation of Irish Coast Guard search and rescue services in the country until at least 2032, with a further three-year extension option until 2035.

Applicants for the contract, ‘for the provision of rotory and fixed wing services for the Irish coast Guard’, must respond by midday on 26 January 2022, with a final decision due to be made on the tender by March 2022.

The tender includes a minimum requirement for the supply of three helicopters and a fixed wing aircraft to support the delivery of the service. According to a statement made last year by the Ministry of Transport, the new contract marks the first time that ‘a dedicated fixed wing component’ which will ‘provide the IRCG with an on-call pollution monitoring, high endurance search and top cover capability.’

The new contract could mark the end of a decade of operations by current incumbent CHC

The new contract will replace the previous €600 million 10-year contract held by current operator CHC Ireland, a subsidiary of the Canadian Holding Company (CHC), which was awarded in 2012. It is unclear at present whether CHC will bid for the renewed contract.

CHC currently operates a fleet of five Sikorsky S-92 helicopters, which operate around 700 missions annually, at a cost of around €90,000 per flight.