diff --git a/src/main/java/io/strimzi/test/container/StrimziConnectContainer.java b/src/main/java/io/strimzi/test/container/StrimziConnectContainer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..475b39e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/io/strimzi/test/container/StrimziConnectContainer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,286 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Strimzi authors.
+ * License: Apache License 2.0 (see the file LICENSE or http://apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html).
+ */
+package io.strimzi.test.container;
+
+import com.github.dockerjava.api.command.InspectContainerResponse;
+import com.groupcdg.pitest.annotations.DoNotMutate;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Level;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+import org.testcontainers.containers.GenericContainer;
+import org.testcontainers.containers.Network;
+import org.testcontainers.containers.wait.strategy.Wait;
+import org.testcontainers.containers.wait.strategy.WaitStrategy;
+import org.testcontainers.images.builder.Transferable;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.StringWriter;
+import java.io.UncheckedIOException;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Properties;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+
+public class StrimziConnectContainer extends GenericContainer<StrimziConnectContainer> {
+
+    // class attributes
+    private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(StrimziConnectContainer.class);
+
+    /**
+     * The file containing the startup script.
+     */
+    public static final String STARTER_SCRIPT = "/testcontainers_start.sh";
+
+    /**
+     * The file containing the Connect configuration
+     */
+    public static final String CONFIG_FILE = "/opt/kafka/config/connect.properties";
+
+    /**
+     * Default Kafka port
+     */
+    public static final int CONNECT_PORT = 8083;
+
+    /**
+     * The network alias.
+     */
+    protected static final String NETWORK_ALIAS = "connect";
+
+    /**
+     * Lazy image name provider
+     */
+    private final CompletableFuture<String> imageNameProvider;
+
+    // instance attributes
+    private String bootstrapServers;
+    private Map<String, String> connectConfigurationMap;
+    private final String kafkaVersion = KafkaVersionService.getInstance().latestRelease().getVersion();
+    private boolean includeFileConnectors = true;
+
+    /**
+     * Image name is specified lazily automatically in {@link #doStart()} method
+     */
+    public StrimziConnectContainer() {
+        this(new CompletableFuture<>());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Image name is specified by {@code dockerImageName}
+     *
+     * @param dockerImageName specific docker image name provided by constructor parameter
+     */
+    public StrimziConnectContainer(String dockerImageName) {
+        this(CompletableFuture.completedFuture(dockerImageName));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Image name is lazily set in {@link #doStart()} method
+     */
+    private StrimziConnectContainer(CompletableFuture<String> imageName) {
+        super(imageName);
+        this.imageNameProvider = imageName;
+        super.setNetwork(Network.SHARED);
+        // exposing kafka port from the container
+        super.setExposedPorts(Collections.singletonList(CONNECT_PORT));
+        super.addEnv("LOG_DIR", "/tmp");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    @SuppressWarnings({"NPathComplexity", "CyclomaticComplexity"})
+    @DoNotMutate
+    protected void doStart() {
+        if (bootstrapServers == null) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Bootstrap servers must be configured using withBootstrapServers()");
+        }
+        if (!imageNameProvider.isDone()) {
+            imageNameProvider.complete(KafkaVersionService.strimziTestContainerImageName(kafkaVersion));
+        }
+
+        super.withNetworkAliases(NETWORK_ALIAS);
+
+        super.setCommand("sh", "-c", runStarterScript());
+        super.doStart();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    @DoNotMutate
+    public void stop() {
+        super.stop();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Allows overriding the startup script command.
+     * The default is: <pre>{@code "while [ ! -x " + STARTER_SCRIPT + " ]; do sleep 0.1; done; " + STARTER_SCRIPT}</pre>
+     *
+     * @return the command
+     */
+    protected String runStarterScript() {
+        return "while [ ! -x " + STARTER_SCRIPT + " ]; do sleep 0.1; done; " + STARTER_SCRIPT;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Fluent method, which sets a waiting strategy to wait until the broker is ready.
+     * <p>
+     * This method waits for a log message in the broker log.
+     * You can customize the strategy using {@link #waitingFor(WaitStrategy)}.
+     *
+     * @return StrimziConnectContainer instance
+     */
+    @DoNotMutate
+    public StrimziConnectContainer waitForRunning() {
+        super.waitingFor(Wait.forLogMessage(".*Finished starting connectors and tasks.*", 1));
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The Connect REST API endpoint
+     * @return the endpoint
+     */
+    public String restEndpoint() {
+        return "http://" + getHost() + ":" + getMappedPort(CONNECT_PORT);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    @DoNotMutate
+    protected void containerIsStarting(final InspectContainerResponse containerInfo, final boolean reused) {
+        super.containerIsStarting(containerInfo, reused);
+
+        LOGGER.info("Mapped port: {}", getMappedPort(CONNECT_PORT));
+
+        final Properties defaultServerProperties = buildDefaultConnectProperties(bootstrapServers);
+        final String serverPropertiesWithOverride = overrideProperties(defaultServerProperties, connectConfigurationMap);
+
+        copyFileToContainer(
+                Transferable.of(serverPropertiesWithOverride.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)),
+                CONFIG_FILE);
+
+        String command = "#!/bin/bash \n";
+        command += "bin/connect-distributed.sh " + CONFIG_FILE + " \n";
+
+        LOGGER.info("Copying command to 'STARTER_SCRIPT' script.");
+
+        copyFileToContainer(
+                Transferable.of(command.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8), 700),
+                STARTER_SCRIPT
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Builds the default Kafka Connect properties.
+     *
+     * @param bootstrapServers the bootstrap servers
+     * @return the default Connect properties
+     */
+    protected Properties buildDefaultConnectProperties(final String bootstrapServers) {
+        Properties properties = new Properties();
+        properties.setProperty("bootstrap.servers", bootstrapServers);
+        properties.setProperty("group.id", "connect-cluster");
+        properties.setProperty("key.converter", "org.apache.kafka.connect.json.JsonConverter");
+        properties.setProperty("value.converter", "org.apache.kafka.connect.json.JsonConverter");
+        properties.setProperty("key.converter.schemas.enable", "true");
+        properties.setProperty("value.converter.schemas.enable", "true");
+        properties.setProperty("offset.storage.topic", "connect-offsets");
+        properties.setProperty("offset.storage.replication.factor", "1");
+        properties.setProperty("config.storage.topic", "connect-configs");
+        properties.setProperty("config.storage.replication.factor", "1");
+        properties.setProperty("status.storage.topic", "connect-status");
+        properties.setProperty("status.storage.replication.factor", "1");
+        if (includeFileConnectors) {
+            properties.setProperty("plugin.path", "/opt/kafka/libs/connect-file-" + kafkaVersion + ".jar");
+        }
+        return properties;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Overrides the default Kafka Connect properties with the provided overrides.
+     * If the overrides map is null or empty, it simply returns the default properties as a string.
+     *
+     * @param defaultProperties The default Kafka Connect properties.
+     * @param overrides         The properties to override. Can be null.
+     * @return A string representation of the combined Connect properties.
+     */
+    protected String overrideProperties(Properties defaultProperties, Map<String, String> overrides) {
+        // Check if overrides are not null and not empty before applying them
+        if (overrides != null && !overrides.isEmpty()) {
+            overrides.forEach(defaultProperties::setProperty);
+        }
+
+        // Write properties to string
+        StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
+        try {
+            defaultProperties.store(writer, null);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new UncheckedIOException("Failed to store Kafka server properties", e);
+        }
+
+        return writer.toString();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Fluent method, which sets {@code connectConfigurationMap}.
+     *
+     * @param connectConfigurationMap kafka configuration
+     * @return StrimziConnectContainer instance
+     */
+    public StrimziConnectContainer withConnectConfigurationMap(final Map<String, String> connectConfigurationMap) {
+        this.connectConfigurationMap = connectConfigurationMap;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Fluent method to configure the bootstrap servers
+     *
+     * @param bootstrapServers the bootstrap servers
+     * @return StrimziConnectContainer instance
+     */
+    public StrimziConnectContainer withBootstrapServers(final String bootstrapServers) {
+        this.bootstrapServers = bootstrapServers;
+        return self();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Configures the Connect container to use the specified logging level for Connect logs.
+     * <p>
+     * This method generates a custom <code>connect-log4j.properties</code> file with the desired logging level
+     * and copies it into the Connect container. By setting the logging level, you can control the verbosity
+     * of Kafka's log output, which is useful for debugging or monitoring purposes.
+     * </p>
+     *
+     * <b>Example Usage:</b>
+     * <pre>{@code
+     * StrimziConnectContainer connectContainer = new StrimziConnectContainer()
+     *     .withConnectLog(Level.DEBUG)
+     *     .start();
+     * }</pre>
+     *
+     * @param level the desired {@link Level} of logging (e.g., DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR)
+     * @return the current instance of {@code StrimziConnectContainer} for method chaining
+     */
+    public StrimziConnectContainer withConnectLog(Level level) {
+        String log4jConfig = "log4j.rootLogger=" + level.name() + ", stdout\n" +
+                "log4j.appender.stdout=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender\n" +
+                "log4j.appender.stdout.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout\n" +
+                "log4j.appender.stdout.layout.ConversionPattern=[%d] %p %m (%c)%n\n";
+
+        // Copy the custom log4j.properties into the container
+        this.withCopyToContainer(
+                Transferable.of(log4jConfig.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)),
+                "/opt/kafka/config/connect-log4j.properties"
+        );
+
+        return self();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Whether to include the FileStream connectors
+     * @param includeFileConnectors Use false to not include the FileStream connectors
+     * @return the current instance of {@code StrimziConnectContainer} for method chaining
+     */
+    public StrimziConnectContainer withIncludeFileConnectors(boolean includeFileConnectors) {
+        this.includeFileConnectors = includeFileConnectors;
+        return self();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/strimzi/test/container/StrimziConnectContainerIT.java b/src/test/java/io/strimzi/test/container/StrimziConnectContainerIT.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..44d9d24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/io/strimzi/test/container/StrimziConnectContainerIT.java
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Strimzi authors.
+ * License: Apache License 2.0 (see the file LICENSE or http://apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html).
+ */
+package io.strimzi.test.container;
+
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Level;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.http.HttpClient;
+import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
+import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.containsString;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.not;
+import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
+
+public class StrimziConnectContainerIT extends AbstractIT {
+
+    private static final Set<String> MIRRORMAKER_CONNECTORS = Set.of(
+            "MirrorSourceConnector",
+            "MirrorCheckpointConnector",
+            "MirrorHeartbeatConnector");
+
+    private static final Set<String> FILE_CONNECTORS = Set.of(
+            "FileStreamSinkConnector",
+            "FileStreamSourceConnector");
+
+    private StrimziConnectContainer systemUnderTest;
+    private StrimziKafkaContainer kafka;
+
+    @AfterEach
+    void tearDown() {
+        if (kafka != null) {
+            kafka.stop();
+        }
+        if (systemUnderTest != null) {
+            systemUnderTest.stop();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testStartContainerWithoutBootstrapServers() {
+        systemUnderTest = new StrimziConnectContainer();
+        assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class, () -> systemUnderTest.start());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testStartContainer() throws Exception {
+        kafka = new StrimziKafkaContainer()
+                .withNetworkAliases("kafka")
+                .withBrokerId(1)
+                .withKraft()
+                .waitForRunning();
+        kafka.start();
+
+        systemUnderTest = new StrimziConnectContainer()
+                .withNetwork(kafka.getNetwork())
+                .withBootstrapServers("kafka:9091")
+                .waitForRunning();
+        systemUnderTest.start();
+
+        String info = query(systemUnderTest, "/");
+        assertThat(info, containsString(kafka.getClusterId()));
+
+        String connectors = query(systemUnderTest, "/connector-plugins");
+        for (String connector : MIRRORMAKER_CONNECTORS) {
+            assertThat(connectors, containsString(connector));
+        }
+        for (String connector : FILE_CONNECTORS) {
+            assertThat(connectors, containsString(connector));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testStartContainerWithoutFileConnectors() throws Exception {
+        kafka = new StrimziKafkaContainer()
+                .withNetworkAliases("kafka")
+                .withBrokerId(1)
+                .withKraft()
+                .waitForRunning();
+        kafka.start();
+
+        systemUnderTest = new StrimziConnectContainer()
+                .withNetwork(kafka.getNetwork())
+                .withBootstrapServers("kafka:9091")
+                .withIncludeFileConnectors(false)
+                .waitForRunning();
+        systemUnderTest.start();
+
+        String info = query(systemUnderTest, "/");
+        assertThat(info, containsString(kafka.getClusterId()));
+
+        String connectors = query(systemUnderTest, "/connector-plugins");
+        for (String connector : MIRRORMAKER_CONNECTORS) {
+            assertThat(connectors, containsString(connector));
+        }
+        for (String connector : FILE_CONNECTORS) {
+            assertThat(connectors, not(containsString(connector)));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testStartContainerWithDebugLogs() {
+        kafka = new StrimziKafkaContainer()
+                .withNetworkAliases("kafka")
+                .withBrokerId(1)
+                .withKraft()
+                .waitForRunning();
+        kafka.start();
+
+        systemUnderTest = new StrimziConnectContainer()
+                .withNetwork(kafka.getNetwork())
+                .withBootstrapServers("kafka:9091")
+                .withConnectLog(Level.DEBUG)
+                .waitForRunning();
+        systemUnderTest.start();
+
+        assertThat(systemUnderTest.getLogs(), containsString("] DEBUG "));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testStartContainerWithConfigurationMap() throws Exception {
+        kafka = new StrimziKafkaContainer()
+                .withNetworkAliases("kafka")
+                .withBrokerId(1)
+                .withKraft()
+                .waitForRunning();
+        kafka.start();
+
+        systemUnderTest = new StrimziConnectContainer()
+                .withNetwork(kafka.getNetwork())
+                .withBootstrapServers("kafka:9091")
+                .withConnectConfigurationMap(Map.of("plugin.path", "/tmp"))
+                .waitForRunning();
+        systemUnderTest.start();
+
+        String connectors = query(systemUnderTest, "/connector-plugins");
+        for (String connector : FILE_CONNECTORS) {
+            assertThat(connectors, not(containsString(connector)));
+        }
+    }
+
+    private String query(StrimziConnectContainer container, String path) throws Exception {
+        HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
+        URI uri = new URI(container.restEndpoint() + path);
+        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
+                .GET()
+                .uri(uri)
+                .build();
+        HttpResponse<String> response = httpClient.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
+        assertThat(response.statusCode(), is(HttpURLConnection.HTTP_OK));
+        return response.body();
+    }
+}