Send a structured request, collect comparable bids, and award the job without a spreadsheet bid matrix. Base runs the full marine procurement workflow for port calls, vessel charter, drydock, bunker supply, and vendor services, with cost management baked in from the first bid. Every bid comparable. Every vendor compliance-checked. One audit trail from request to awarded job.
You need a new port agent in Santos, a bunker supplier who can deliver to a specific berth window, or a tug operator with the crane capacity for a heavy lift. You email five vendors. Four respond in different formats. You build a comparison spreadsheet by hand. By the time you award the bid, one vendor has already moved on to another job. This is how most maritime procurement works today, and the worst part is that it feels normal. Base replaces the thread.
Same Tuesday, same five vendors, same berth window. Here is what the request looks like on email versus in Base.
Your bid comparison renders automatically the moment a vendor responds. Rate, delivery window, vessel assignment, compliance status, and vendor notes appear in the same row, same column, same unit. No spreadsheet export, no manual copy-paste, no version confusion. You see what the cheap bid is hiding before you accept it.
Agents, pilots, tugs, linesmen, launches. RFQ templates match port-specific service bundles.
Time charter, voyage charter, spot market. Capture vessel specs, laycan window, bunker clauses.
Grade, quantity, delivery barge, spec sheet, lab sampling. Rate comparison per metric ton.
Scheduled, emergency, voyage repairs. Capture yard capacity, dock dates, scope of work.
OEM and aftermarket, emergency delivery, port-of-call staging. Track lead time and vendor certification.
Pre-purchase, on-hire, off-hire, damage assessment. Route RFQ to surveyor shortlist by region.
A vendor submits a bid. Base looks up their sanctions status, licensing, insurance expiration, and vessel compliance automatically. If the license expired two weeks ago, you see it on the bid before you read the rate. If the vendor lands on a denied-party list, the bid is flagged before it reaches your queue. You stop discovering compliance problems after you have already committed to a vendor. Cross-checked via vendor due diligence and sanctions screening.
in marine charges tracked across the platform
records synced across integrated systems
currencies captured on every bid and award
procurement documents generated to date
Email works until four vendors respond in four different formats and you build the comparison in Excel by hand. Base does the comparison automatically and preserves the audit trail. Every RFQ you run, every bid you award, searchable six months later.
Vendors do not need a Base account to respond. You send a secure link, they fill the form, and their response lands in your RFQ rendered in the same format as every other bid. No onboarding required.
Base is not replacing your ERP. It is the RFQ and award layer that connects to it. When you award a bid, the PO reference, vendor, rates, and compliance status flow into your existing system. Base fills the gap between “I need a quote” and “the job is created.”
Buyers running Base typically cut RFQ turnaround time by roughly half in the first 60 days. Structured bid capture replaces the comparison-spreadsheet step, and vendor compliance checks stop catching problems after the award.
Bring a real procurement need. A bunker supplier you are trying to compare, a tug operator quote you are waiting on, a drydock slot you need to book. We will set up the request, route it to a demo vendor network, and walk you through comparing and awarding, live, in your own tenant, with your real scope. No prep required.
Move the request, the bids, and the award into one system. See how Base handles the procurement flow from the first email to the awarded job, with compliance baked into every bid.