Norwegian tanker operator Iver Ships will join forces with Japan's Mitsui O.S.K Lines to form the second biggest clean tanker alliance in the Asia Pacific region. Iver said the two companies would merge their medium-range (MR) tanker fleets over the next six months to form a pool of 12 45,000 tonners. "Our customers -- the oil majors and petrochemical companies -- are globalizing to form bigger units, and they're looking to concentrate on a few service providers capable of doing a bigger part of the job," Iver CEO Hans Jorgen Firing said. "That's why we decided to become a bigger player in this market... so we could be one of the chosen few," he said. The fleet will operate anywhere between the Mideast Gulf and the U.S. West Coast.