[Protest of Navy Contract Award for Ship Repair]

A firm protested a Navy contract award for ship repair services, contending that: (1) it should have been awarded the contract under the initial solicitation, which the Navy cancelled after bid opening; and (2) the negotiated resolicitation created a price auction which permitted the awardee to underbid it. GAO found that: (1) the Navy had a compelling reason to cancel the original solicitation because the ship availability dates had been omitted; (2) although the protester had included the cost of removal and reinstallation of the ship's boom in its bid, there was no indication that the other bidders had done so until the resolicitation advised them that removal of the boom would be required while the ship was unavailable; and (3) cancellation and resolicitation after bid opening does not create an impermissible auction when defective specifications require revision. Accordingly, the protest was denied.