John Fredriksen has finally made his long expected offshore shipping consolidation move by forging a merger with restructuring Farstad Shipping.

Weeks after Kristian Siem pulled out of a takeover for Farstad, the company said it has secured a fully funded rescue plan that will see it combine with Fredriksen's Deep Sea Supply and Kjell Inge Rokke-backed Solstad Offshore.

The aim is to create a "world leading OSV company" called Solstad Farstad, it added.

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