[Protest of Navy Contract Award for Marine Fenders]

A firm protested a Navy contract award for marine fenders, contending that the Navy made its affirmative determination of the awardee's responsibility in bad faith, since: (1) it disregarded the awardee's unsatisfactory past performance; (2) it inadequately inspected the awardee's fenders, which did not meet the solicitation requirements; (3) it inadequately investigated the awardee's alleged history of supplying substandard fenders, and failed to validate its own deficiency reports; and (4) the awardee had misrepresented the type of product it would use in performing another Navy contract. The protester also contended that the Navy did not adequately investigate its allegations. GAO held that: (1) the awardee's unsatisfactory past performance and the Navy's failure to validate deficiency reports in a previous contract did not indicate that the Navy made its affirmative responsibility determination in bad faith; and (2) it would not invoke its audit authority and investigate the protester's allegations since the Navy had already done so. Accordingly, the protest was denied.