Norwegian owner Torvald Klaveness has forged a new alliance with Japanese trading house Marubeni to form the world's biggest panamax bulker pool.

A jointly owned company called Maruklav Management will oversee their merged vessel interests in the sector, creating a fleet of about 30 ships.

The pool brings together vessels operated by Marubeni's MG Harrison Shipping and Klaveness' Baumarine pools from early April.