[Request for Reconsideration of Dismissed Protests of Maritime Administration Cooperative Agreement Award]

A firm and a labor association requested reconsideration of their dismissed protest against a Maritime Administration (MARAD) cooperative agreement award for the operation and maintenance of a ship research simulator. GAO had held that there was no showing that MARAD should have conducted a procurement instead of using the cooperative agreement. GAO subsequently determined that: (1) MARAD should have conducted a procurement; and (2) it would consider the merits of the original protest. The protesters had contended that MARAD: (1) improperly evaluated their financial backgrounds; (2) did not apply its criteria in evaluating the awardee's bid; and (3) was biased in its scoring of the bids. GAO held that MARAD reasonably awarded the contract to the awardee, since: (1) the protesters' bids contained significant deficiencies; and (2) there was no evidence of bias or impropriety in the evaluation process. Accordingly, the protest was denied.