The office was going to be situated on the deck of a shipping vessel, for the crew to use, therefore it needed to be suitable for shipping. Depending on the use of the container and how our client intended to lift the container, it could have fallen within DNV Offshore specifications; something that we have a lot of experience in. However, after consulting with our client, we confirmed that this would not be the case.

For this build we utilised a 20ft new (once shipping) container painted white (RAL 9010). We lined the container walls, roof and cargo doors with 9mm white faced MFC, laid over 50mm insulation to a timber stud frame. The existing marine ply container floor was overlaid with Polysafe 2.5mm non-slip vinyl floor with a 50mm lip.

We had many consultations and drawing revisions regarding the doors and windows, as our client had a very clear idea as to where these should be located for use on the vessel. For the door, we created an aperture and a box frame and installed a standard insulated weatherproof personnel door. This measured 910mm (W) x 2065mm (H) (including the frame), the locking system was made up of a 10-point system with 5 pin anti-drill Euro profile cylinder. Full door furniture, a tie back to prevent the door from slamming and a rain run-off strip above the door were also included. Our client required 4 standard insulated weatherproof single glazed sliding windows, each measuring 945mm x 945mm. These included finger bolts, stainless steel anti-knockout hinges, tie backs and rain run-off strips.

The electric, lighting and heating installation included 2 x 5′ single anti-corrosive lights fittings and switches, 4 x 13-amp twin sockets and 2 x 2kW convector heaters with appropriate electrical protection and external isolators.

We transported the unit by way of 20ft crane lorry to Birkenhead Port, which is where the vessel is currently moored. Our client required a very specific completion date, and as always Lion Containers Ltd delivered.