International salvor Ardent is forming a new partnership with two Greece-based companies to handle all kinds of casualties in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Ardent, Vernicos Tugs and Environmental Protection Engineering (EPE) signed on 20 March a cooperation agreement "to closely work together on future opportunities", the three companies said in a joint statement e-mailed to TradeWinds by Dimitris Vernicos, chief executive of Vernicos Tugs.