Blue Data Warehouse

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has announced a call for tenders, identified as EMSA/2025/OP/0038, for the establishment of a Blue Data Warehouse (BDW). This project aims to enhance data management, analytics capabilities, scalability, and data security by consolidating data from various sources into a central repository, thereby improving efficiency in managing and securing large volumes of data.

The total estimated value of this procurement contract is €2,500,000. It is classified under CPV code 72000000, which denotes IT services including consulting, software development, internet services, and support. The contract is designed as a framework agreement with a maximum duration of 48 months, starting with an initial phase of 24 months and renewable once.

Submissions must be made electronically through the European Commission's Funding and Tenders Portal, with the deadline set for February 18, 2026, at 16:00 UTC. A public opening date for the tenders is scheduled for February 20, 2026. Interest parties have until February 10, 2026, to submit questions regarding the tender, although EMSA will not respond to inquiries after this date. The evaluation will be based on a weighted criteria comprising 70% for quality and 30% for price, emphasizing the technical complexity of the solutions being sought.

Eligible applicants can include service providers with the necessary technical and professional capabilities to fulfill the contract's requirements. While the opportunity is open for proposals from various candidates, there is an indication that preference may be given to larger companies with substantial resources. The requirements specify that participating organizations must register for a Personal Identification Code (PIC), which is mandatory to apply.

The available documentation consists of various essentials, including the invitation to tender, specifications, a checklist for candidates, and appendices related to the award criteria and contract terms. These documents are provided in English only and do not have translations available.

Overall, this tender represents a significant opportunity for organizations skilled in IT services, particularly in developing advanced data management systems, to engage with an EU agency to support its operational needs. The initiative reflects EMSA's strategy to modernize its data infrastructure and enhance its capabilities to serve its stakeholders effectively.

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has issued a call for tenders, EMSA/2025/OP/0038, for the establishment of a Blue Data Warehouse (BDW). The objective of the BDW is to enhance data management, analytics capabilities, scalability, and data security within EMSA. The BDW will consolidate data from multiple sources into a central repository, providing reference datasets to address complex requests from EMSA's stakeholders. This approach aims to improve the efficiency of managing, updating, and securing large volumes of data.

This is an open procedure, and submissions must be electronic. The estimated total value of the tender is 2,500,000 EUR. The TED publication date is December 22, 2025. The lead contracting authority is the European Maritime Safety Agency. The main classification according to CPV is 72000000 IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support. The nature of the contract is for services, and the maximum contract duration is 48 months. The award method will be based on the best price-quality ratio. The framework agreement will be a framework agreement without reopening of competition.

Key milestones include the TED publication date of December 22, 2025, a public opening date and time of February 20, 2026, at 10:00 Europe/Lisbon, and a deadline for receipt of tenders on February 18, 2026, at 16:00 Europe/Lisbon. The contracting authority is not bound to reply to questions submitted after February 10, 2026, at 08:00 Europe/Lisbon.

The following documents are available for download: Invitation to tender Invitation letter, Tender Specifications, Tenderer (Candidate) Checklist, Appendix 1 to the Tender Specifications use cases for award criteria, Appendix 2 to the Tender Specifications Financial Proposal, Appendix 3 to the Tender Specifications BDW Guidelines Nov 2025, Appendix 4 to the Tender Specifications Technical and Professional capacity, Framework contract Draft contract, General terms and conditions for information technology contracts Draft contract annex, and FWC (IT) General terms and conditions Appendix A Draft contract annex. All documents are in English, version 1, and no translations are available.

Submissions must be sent exclusively at the address for submission provided.

There are some frequently asked questions (FAQ) available. These cover topics such as how to proceed if the system is slow or doesn’t work while uploading/downloading documents, which internet browsers eSubmission supports, whether it is possible to view the details of the submission after the deadline, where to find submissions in Manage My Area in the Funding & Tenders portal, the size attachments should have, how to name attachments in eSubmission, whether a video can be submitted in eSubmission and which formats are supported, what to do if an invitation is received from the F&T Portal but the procurement documents cannot be viewed, whether a PIC is needed to submit a tender in eSubmission, what to do if there is an issue uploading a file in eSubmission and it’s giving an error, how many attachments can be uploaded per submission, why tenderers need a PIC, how to register an organisation and get a Participant Identification Code (PIC), how many languages the system supports, which is the character set encoding in the system, whether the system uses encryption to ensure the integrity and the confidentiality of the information, which file types the system supports, whether a draft submission can be viewed and edited, whether it is a problem if "Legal form: UNKNOWN" is displayed in the submission report, and whether an automatic email informing that the deadline for the reception of submissions had been reached means that the submission was not correctly sent.

The eSubmission system supports the latest versions of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. For the most up-to-date technical recommendations, refer to the System Requirements. The system encrypts all uploaded documents, using an asymmetric key as an encryption mechanism. The character set encoding is UTF-8. The system is multilingual and supports all 24 official EU languages. The maximum number of documents that can be uploaded per tender is 200 files. The maximum file size for attachments is 50 MB. A Personal Identification Code (PIC) is mandatory to participate in a call for tenders.

Due to the EMSA upcoming holiday period, any questions received in the period December 23, 2025 January 4, 2026 will be processed and replied with celerity as of January 5, 2026.

In summary, this is a call for tenders by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to establish a Blue Data Warehouse (BDW). The BDW aims to consolidate data from various sources into a central repository to enhance data management, analytics, scalability, and security. The tender is open to all eligible organizations and has an estimated value of 2.5 million EUR. The deadline for submitting tenders is February 18, 2026. Interested parties should review the tender documents and FAQs for detailed requirements and submission guidelines. The project seeks to improve EMSA's ability to manage and utilize its data effectively, supporting its stakeholders with reliable and up-to-date information.

Eligible Applicant Types: The opportunity details do not explicitly state the eligible applicant types. However, given that this is a call for tenders for IT services, it can be inferred that eligible applicants could include companies, firms, and organizations with the technical and professional capacity to deliver IT services, consulting, software development, Internet and support. This could include SMEs, large enterprises, and potentially research institutes or public-private partnerships with relevant expertise.

Funding Type: Procurement. This is a call for tenders, indicating that the primary financial mechanism is procurement, where the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) is seeking to procure services related to the Blue Data Warehouse.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity details do not explicitly state whether a consortium is required or if a single applicant is sufficient. The FAQ section mentions that a Personal Identification Code (PIC) is mandatory to participate as a sole candidate/tenderer or as a member of a group (consortium), implying that both single applicants and consortia are eligible.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The opportunity details do not explicitly define the geographic eligibility. Given that the contracting authority is the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), it is highly likely that the geographic eligibility includes EU member states and potentially EEA countries. Further details would be needed from the tender specifications to confirm.

Target Sector: The primary target sector is ICT (Information and Communication Technology), specifically focusing on data management, analytics, and data security. The call for tenders is for IT services, consulting, software development, Internet and support, with a focus on establishing a Blue Data Warehouse (BDW).

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned in the opportunity details. The contracting authority is the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), which operates within the European Union. Therefore, the relevant region is the EU.

Project Stage: The project stage appears to be development and implementation. The call is for establishing a Blue Data Warehouse (BDW), which suggests that the project is beyond the initial idea or research phase and is now in the stage of developing and implementing a data management and analytics solution.

Funding Amount: The estimated total value of this procurement is 2,500,000 EUR.

Application Type: Open call. The procedure type is explicitly stated as an "Open procedure."

Nature of Support: Money. The selected tenderer will receive monetary compensation for the services provided under the framework contract.

Application Stages: The number of stages is not explicitly stated, but it can be inferred that there are multiple stages, including submission of the tender, evaluation of the tender, and award of the contract. The documents provided, such as the Tenderer (Candidate) Checklist, suggest a multi-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not mentioned in the opportunity details.

Co-funding Requirement: The opportunity details do not explicitly state whether co-funding is required. Typically, procurement contracts do not require co-funding from the applicant.

Summary: This is a call for tenders issued by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) for the establishment of a Blue Data Warehouse (BDW). The BDW aims to enhance data management, analytics capabilities, scalability, and data security for EMSA by consolidating data from multiple sources into a central repository. The estimated total value of the contract is 2,500,000 EUR, and the maximum contract duration is 48 months. The procedure type is an open procedure, meaning any interested and qualified tenderer can submit a proposal. The submission method is electronic, with a deadline for receipt of tenders on 18/02/2026. The award method is based on the best price-quality ratio. The tender documents include an invitation letter, tender specifications, a tenderer checklist, appendices related to award criteria, financial proposal, BDW guidelines, technical and professional capacity, a draft framework contract, and general terms and conditions for IT contracts. Tenderers must register for a Personal Identification Code (PIC) to participate. The eSubmission system supports multiple languages and encrypts uploaded documents to ensure integrity and confidentiality. The maximum number of attachments allowed per tender is 200 files, with a maximum file size of 50 MB. The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) is seeking to procure services related to IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support.