OPEN TOP CONTAINERS
Vertical Deployment Solutions for Offshore Logistics
Open Top Containers provide safe and efficient transportation for equipment that requires vertical crane deployment during offshore operations.
Unlike conventional enclosed containers, the Open Top family is designed to provide unrestricted access from above while maintaining the advantages of a certified offshore transport unit throughout the project logistics chain.
Simmonds Equipment offers both Conventional Open Top Containers and our Hard Top Convertible designs, allowing customers to select the configuration that best matches their equipment, operational requirements and project logistics.
Choose Your Configuration
Conventional Open Top
Hard Top Convertible
Choosing the Right Configuration
Why Open Top Containers
Conventional enclosed containers are ideal where equipment can be loaded and unloaded through the end doors using forklifts.
Offshore operations are different.
Equipment is normally loaded into the container onshore using forklifts during fabrication, assembly or mobilisation. Once offshore, forklifts are rarely available and equipment often has to be removed directly by the vessel crane.
Open Top Containers eliminate the restrictions of door-only access by allowing equipment to be deployed vertically, simplifying offshore lifting operations while reducing unnecessary cargo handling and improving mobilisation efficiency.
This same engineering philosophy is applied throughout the Simmonds Equipment offshore logistics range, ensuring equipment remains within a certified transport unit from fabrication through to offshore installation wherever practical.
When an Open Top Container Becomes the Safer Solution
Open Top Containers are not simply selected because equipment can be removed vertically by crane. In many cases, they become the safest and most appropriate solution because of the engineering limitations associated with transporting taller equipment in other offshore transport units.
As equipment height increases above the side walls of a Half Height Container or Cargo Basket, lifting geometry, sling clearance and the combined centre of gravity of the transport unit become increasingly important engineering considerations.
Higher equipment can reduce clearance between the lifting sling set and the cargo, increasing the potential for snagging during offshore lifting operations. At the same time, the combined centre of gravity of the loaded transport unit rises, reducing lifting stability and requiring careful engineering assessment.
Where these factors cannot be satisfactorily addressed, an Open Top Container provides the additional internal height needed to maintain safe lifting geometry, protect the cargo and reduce snagging hazards.
For equipment exceeding the height of a conventional Open Top Container, the Hard Top Sky Box extends these same engineering principles.
The Evolution of the Open Top Container
For decades, Conventional Open Top Containers have relied upon removable tarpaulins and support bows to provide weather protection.
To overcome these limitations, Simmonds Equipment developed the Hard Top Convertible Open Top Container.
Replacing the traditional tarpaulin with a fully removable steel roof provides superior weather protection while allowing unrestricted vertical deployment and improved operational efficiency throughout the logistics chain.
The Hard Top Sky Box extends this philosophy by providing additional protected internal height whilst retaining the structural protection and operational advantages of the Hard Top Convertible design.
The Offshore Logistics Chain
Every Open Top Container is engineered around the way equipment moves through an offshore project.
Equipment is loaded during fabrication, transported by road, shipped by sea, mobilised through the shore base and finally deployed offshore by crane. By allowing equipment to remain within a single certified transport unit throughout this journey, unnecessary cargo handling is reduced, equipment remains better protected and offshore mobilisation becomes safer and more efficient.
Common Features Across the Open Top Range
· DNV-ST-E271 / ISO 10855 certification
· CSC approval for international shipping
· ISO corner castings
· Cargo securing points
· Certification document holders
· Tag line D-rings
· Heavy Duty payload options
· High Cube options where applicable
· Painted, Hot-Dip Galvanised or Duplex finishes
· Certified offshore lifting sling options
Typical Applications
Open Top Containers are selected because of how equipment needs to be deployed offshore, rather than what equipment is being transported.
· Offshore project mobilisation
· Shore base logistics
· Offshore construction campaigns
· Vessel mobilisation
· Equipment transportation between offshore assets
· Renewable energy installation projects
· Temporary storage during mobilisation
· Oversized cargo transportation
Related Products
Why Simmonds Equipment
Simmonds Equipment develops offshore logistics equipment by understanding how equipment is transported, mobilised and deployed throughout the offshore supply chain.
Rather than simply manufacturing offshore containers, we engineer practical transport solutions that improve safety, lifting stability, cargo protection and operational efficiency from fabrication through to offshore installation.
Our Open Top Container family allows customers to select the configuration that best matches their operational, engineering and project requirements while maintaining the proven advantages of DNV-certified offshore lifting, CSC-approved international transportation and efficient offshore mobilisation.
Request a Quotation
Contact our engineering team to discuss your project requirements.