A joint venture pool by Torvald Klaveness and Marubeni has welcomed another Japanese owner as its expansion continues.
Baumarine by Maruklav, the world's biggest panamax operator, said Shoei Kisen has contributed its 85,000-dwt Nadeshiko (built 2016), bringing the number of vessels to around 30.
Shoei Kisen is the ownership arm of Japan's Imabari Shipbuilding.
"With their strong history and background they will contribute to an even closer working relationship between owners in the pool," the Maruklav joint venture said.
Nadeshiko was delivered on 18 April and will likely perform a voyage loading grain as its first employment.
The current pool was formed by a merger of Klaveness' Baumarine with Marubeni's MG Harrison in January.
Michael Jorgensen, managing director of Maruklav, added: "It’s great to have another strong owner join the pool. We are covering all bases of ownership and we are clearly able to serve the purpose of owners with different strategic goals."
The new addition marks a return for Shoei Kisen, which has historically had close ties with Marubeni and was the first owner in MG Harrison.
It was a member between 2016 and 2018.
Yukito Higaki, president of Shoei Kisen said: “We look forward to working closely with the pool managers Marubeni and Klaveness, and we are excited to be a part of a growing pool with other owners around the globe."
The Baumarine by Maruklav joint venture is due to have its first large pool members meeting in June.
This will likely have to be done digitally, added Jorgensen, saying he expects to "harvest from the insights of each owner for mutual benefit:.
Earlier this month the pool landed its first scrubber-fitted ship, added the 82,000-dwt Bright Pegasus (built 2013), operated by Japan's KMNL Lodestar.
Jorgensen would ideally like to see 15% to 20% of the fleet having scrubbers, to cover all chartering bases.
The fleet target is 35 ships by the end of the second quarter, and 45 by the end of the year.
New ships should be confirmed shortly, he said, while to achieve the 2020 target, the company will need to attract owners with fleets of three, four or five ships it can contribute.
U-Ming of Taiwan added a vessel to the pool last month.
