Bremen, 30.11.2011. After a good ten weeks of intensive planning, preparatory work and manufacturing, the stage is now set: the KAEFER team has arrived with all its components and materials in the Antarctic and begun with the construction of the new Indian research station. For the next five months the 47-man project team will be living and working at Larsemann Hills in the Antarctic in order to complete the station by the end of the Antarctic summer in March 2012.
So far the project has progressed perfectly: in mid-November the team, the containers and the other cargo arrived safely in the Antarctic in brilliant sunshine. Most of the team members sailed on the icebreaker Vladimir Ignatjuk or with the containers on the Ivan Papanin, an Arctic Ocean freighter. The remainder made the long journey by plane. Thanks to the icebreaker the freighter was able to sail in relatively close to the coast. The containers have now been lifted from the ship onto the ice and will be towed to the station by bulldozers.
It is one of the most exciting projects ever carried out by KAEFER Construction GmbH. On a site with extreme climatic and environmental conditions, where there was previously nothing but snow, ice and rock, KAEFER is now building a modern, highly energy-efficient polar station. The client is the Indian National Centre of Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR). The station consists of 134 containers, weighs some 1,000 tonnes and is to be assembled on steel supports two metres above the ground. Every single item had to be specially shipped to the Antarctic, from the crane to the smallest screw. Nothing must be forgotten or lost underway, because sending another delivery along later is practically impossible given the short construction period. That makes it a great challenge for everyone involved on the project, especially the logisticians who organised the packing and shipment of around 200 containers and 180 additional items of cargo.
"Our extensive project management experience puts us in a position to shoulder such a complex project. Competent and experienced staff, quality-assured processes and a great deal of commitment are the key to success" says Jörn M. Fetköter, Managing Director of the KAEFER Group.
Nearly as important is the enthusiasm for the project felt by everyone involved, which will be an enormous motivation for the team over the next five months. "We are really proud to be involved in this amazing project. Lots of employees were really keen to go along – they saw it as a personal challenge to prove their mettle at the other end of the world" adds Sabine Manig, Managing Director of KAEFER Construction GmbH.
Working from the draft plans, KAEFER is responsible for the structural engineering, design, façade and the entire interior outfitting, including furnishing the living and working containers. Then there is the assembly of the partly prefabricated station in the Antarctic. "We provided the optimal technical solutions for all sections, drawing on the know-how of the entire KAEFER Group to carry out the work" says Manig. Comfort, safety, design and energy efficiency are the benchmarks for KAEFER Construction. Then there is the staff's special know-how when it comes to interior outfitting. "We think from the inside to the outside. At the "heart" of the station people have to live and feel comfortable. Our staff understood that it was all about the people working there."
The Bharati research station is 50m long, 30m wide and 12m high. It has a footprint of around 2,000 sqm and a surface area of some 4,500 sqm. The station is to be assembled during the Antarctic summer from November to March. It is due to go into operation in April 2012, when up to 25 people will be able to live and work on the station at the same time.
KAEFER is the world’s largest provider of complete insulation solutions. In 2010 KAEFER generated revenues of €1.2 billion. KAEFER’s core business is carried out in its Industry, Offshore, Shipbuilding and Construction divisions. Headquartered in Bremen, the company has operations in over 50 countries, a current workforce of more than 18,000 and is led by Peter Hoedemaker (Chairman of the KAEFER Group Executive Committee).
