An apparatus for the implementation of a process for the continuous manufacturing of steel strips for packaging coated with a passivation layer is provided. An apparatus contains a transfer roller; a coating roller contacting the transfer roller, a surface of the coating roller having a plurality of hexagonally shaped cells with a line count being from 50 to 200 lines per centimeter and a volume being from 5·10−6 to 10·10−6 m3 per square meter of the coating roller surface; and a tank containing an aqueous passivation solution, the tank providing the aqueous passivation solution to the coating roller.