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Change in management at ELA Container Offshore GmbH

Published in: Wind, Press Releases

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A new chapter is beginning at ELA Container Offshore: In May of 2025, Thorsten Kroes joined the company and now manages the company alongside Hans Gatzemeier and Günter Albers. Gatzemeier, who played a pivotal role in establishing the company since 2014, will continue to actively oversee the transition until the end of the year before entering his well-earned retirement.
 
Kroes has many years of international experience in shipbuilding. His roles have included project manager at the Meyer shipyard, where he was most recently responsible for the Meteor IV research ship. “For me, ELA combines a professional challenge and my close connection to the Emsland region – it is this combination that convinced me to join the company,” says Kroes, who lives in Papenburg. According to Kroes, his discussions with management and the open corporate culture at ELA also helped to finalize his decision. But he also sees many parallels in terms of content: “A wide variety of topics from shipbuilding are ideal for application in the offshore projects,” emphasizes Kroes.
 
“Thorsten has an ideal blend of experience, a fresh perspective, and a strong identification with our values. It was important to me to begin the transition early and proceed step by step. Thorsten will gradually be involved in personal communication with customers, suppliers, and the entire ELA Group as well as in all regular meetings. This will allow him to get to know the team and our product portfolio better day by day,” explains Gatzemeier.
 
A milestone in Gatzemeier’s career was the major offshore project Blue Giant, which represented ELA’s entry into the offshore market in 2008 – a project that ultimately led to the establishment of the company that he now leads. Gatzemeier is particularly proud of the company’s ongoing growth, which is evident among other things in the construction and expansion of the production all and the development of a strong team.
 
Thorsten Kroes has a clear vision for the future: “There is still a lot of potential in the offshore sector, with power generation at sea slated to significantly increase by 2045. With our flexible, modular solutions, we are ideally positioned to meet this demand – especially since, in addition to individual containers, we also offer our customers end-to-end solutions complete with furnishings and equipment.”
 
Kroes says that he looks forward to meeting new people and shaping the future of ELA Container Offshore together with the team.
 
ELA Container Offshore GmbH is part of of the family-owned company ELA Container with more than 50 years of experience in container production as well as 1,400 employees and over 60,000 container modules. The sister company has some 30 employees and produces offshore containers for rent or purchase that are used on converter platforms and on sea vessels, pontoons, and barges of all kinds. ELA Offshore Containers are customized to meet customer requirements, are ready for immediate use, and are available at short notice. Additional information is available at www.ela-offshore.com

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