Norway's Stolt-Nielsen is teaming up with German owner John T Essberger Group to run small chemical tankers in Europe, as consolidation continues to sweep across the sector.

The Stolt Tankers unit and the Hamburg company will combine their parcel tanker fleets from 1 January.

The new company — E&S Tankers — will manage 48 ships ranging in size from 2,800 dwt to 11,300 dwt.