Connecticut-based tanker owner Diamond S Shipping has retained an outside financial firm to advise on strategic options as its private-equity backers seek to exit their investments, sources tell TradeWinds.

Craig Stevenson-led Diamond has contracted advisory house Moelis & Co to evaluate options that could include merger-and-acquisition partnerships, the sources said.

The move stems from the increasing wish of investors led by WL Ross & Co to exit the Greenwich-headquartered owner of MR product tankers and suezmax crude carriers, they added.