The Emsland-based company ELA Container Offshore GmbH is currently working on a temporary accommodation project to house some 60 offshore employees on a converter platform in the North Sea. A total of 26 turnkey containers will soon be assembled and handed over fitted with full electrical installations, potable water supply and sanitation. ELA Offshore has commissioned Schone & Bruns to build the substructure for distributing the container load on the platform.
The individual 10 metre long and 3 metre wide containers are being assembled to form complete, two-storey residential units. “The containers are being prepared in a plug & play system, so that they can be mounted quickly on the platform,” states ELA Container Offshore’s Managing Director Hans Gatzemeier. For this reason, all containers are being pre-assembled to specification in advance in Haren. Besides furnishings and appliances such as beds, desks, bathrooms, lockers, washing machines, fitness equipment and kitchens, this also includes the utility and disposal system. Water, electricity and Internet will all be fitted in advance and connected to the platform facilities system on the platform. “Everything has to be done quickly and smoothly, without missing a beat,” says Gatzemeier. To facilitate this, the assembly team at ELA Container Offshore is especially trained in offshore operations. Founded in 2014, ELA Container Offshore GmbH currently employs a staff of 23 and produces offshore containers for rental and sale to the global maritime industry. With the offshore wind energy sector booming, Gatzemeier sees tremendous growth potential for the company. The containers are transported from Haren to Emden by truck, from where they are taken to the converter platform by ship.
In the meantime, Schone & Bruns has manufactured the substructure for load distribution. The substructure has to meet special requirements as well. The 30 x 30-metre, 166-tonne substructure at the Meppen site is being equipped with a special offshore coating that has to withstand all types of weather conditions. “We are one of the few companies in Germany capable of offering surface technology in this form,” states Managing Director Carsten Bruns. Several years ago, the Meppen-Hüntel-based company invested in a modern coating hall with a 7000-square-metre production area. The substructure has now been loaded onto a barge at Eurohafen Emsland and will soon begin the journey to its destination. Schone & Bruns employs some 250 people in the steel construction and surface engineering segments and generates sales of 44 million Euros per annum. A total of around 12,000 tonnes of steel components are manufactured each year for customers from the chemical, petrochemical and plant engineering sectors. Both managing directors are proud of the fact that the knowledge and skills for this project come from Emsland. “With ELA Container Offshore and Schone & Bruns, two Emsland-based partners have come together to complete this project within the tight time-frame and specified to the required quality,” Gatzemeier states with conviction.
