The largest family business in the security industry actively collaborates with MV WERFTEN / Inter alia, along with state-of-the-art fire fighting vehicles, the highest rescue platform in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern will be used in the future / More than 100 employees at the sites in Rostock, Stralsund and Wismar will use the fire simulator to train, including in the specialist area of ship fire fighting / Managing Director Dirk H. Bürhaus: “With MV WERFTEN, we will become one of the most cutting-edge plant fire services in the north-east of Germany.”
Essen/Rostock/Stralsund/Wismar. With an investment campaign exceeding 3.5 million euros, KÖTTER Security is building on its skills in the plant fire service sector, and increasing the service performance of MV WERFTEN at the Rostock-Warnemünde, Stralsund and Wismar sites. The measures include the acquisition of large vehicles and special infrastructure, as well as the additional training of fire brigades in the field of ship fire fighting.
With 2,300 employees, the Group's three shipyards have been building globally-acclaimed ships for more than 70 years. Since the start of the year, KÖTTER has been a security partner of the long-established company on the Baltic coast. At each of the production sites, the largest family-owned security service provider in Germany is responsible, inter alia, for the plant fire department, including the technical infrastructure and vehicles. The tasks of the three plant fire departments – which are in operation around the clock, 365 days a year – include preventive operational fire protection, technical assistance, and the required firefighting in case of emergency.
“High-tech infrastructure and highly-qualified specialists, who are always kept up to date with the requirements, form the central foundations for this,” stresses Dirk H. Bürhaus, Managing Director of the responsible KÖTTER Fire & Service GmbH & Co. KG. “Our fire protection concept, which was preceded by a comprehensive analysis, is explicitly geared towards this, and particularly addresses the enormous demands of ship fire fighting.”
The investment in the infrastructure consists of the following components: seven large HLF 20 vehicles (extinguishing vehicles) or GWL (logistics equipment vehicles) as used by professional fire departments, as well as a TMB 60 lifting platform, meaning that in the future, the service provider will have the highest rescue platform in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The partner company in the modernisation drive is Rosenbauer International AG, the world’s leading producer of fire-fighting technology in defensive fire and disaster control. The new infrastructure will be delivered successively between late 2018 and summer 2019, and will replace the currently used technology.
At the same time there is on-going practical training for over 100 firefighters, in which, inter alia, a maritime large fire simulator is used. Through this, firefighters can understand the high demands placed on mental and physical fitness, and further strengthen their existing knowledge under “hot” real conditions.
“Our extensive investments, coupled with the accompanying modernisation methods of our clients – such as partial new construction and the modernisation of fire equipment storage facilities – will take the fire protection performance at the three shipyards to a new, timely level,” says Bürhaus with conviction. “Together with the on-site fire department and the client, we will become one of the most cutting-edge plant fire services in the north-east of Germany.”
As well as the structural and technical development, the investment is particularly sustainable in terms of training and personnel development. From this coming autumn, protection and safety service personnel will be trained at all sites, with the main focus being on the fire department. Interested parties can still apply. Bürhaus says: “The focus is not only on the recognised vocational training, but also – in coordination with, and under the recognition of IHK Schwerin – on practical and technical qualifications relating to firefighting. On successful completion, trainees will be able to support our teams on-site in the long term. Not least against the backdrop of this generational change, KÖTTER Security attaches great value to the development of young talent.”
As well as fire protection and fire fighting, MV WERFTEN focusses on the skills of security service providers. A further 55 employees carry out the following plant protection tasks at the three sites, which cover a total area of almost two million square metres: Patrolling the premises, door and gate control services (including checking the vehicles of visitors and suppliers), reception services (issuing visitor passes, etc.), staffing integrated control centres, intervention services and courier services. New training places for protection and security personnel are also created in the field of “standard” security services.
Finally, German Business Protection (GBP), which also belongs to the KÖTTER group of companies, provides extensive support and consulting in the areas of security and risk management. “Our smart security solutions provide the customer with simple, integrated security solutions, which focus on prevention. At the same time, we enable him to concentrate on his core activity by taking on essential infrastructural duties,” says Bürhaus.