INTERVIEW-UPDATE 1-Maersk Tankers sees pick-up in M&A

* World's biggest product tanker group sees more M&As-CEO

* Sees no cancellations or lay-ups

* Says its market less hit than other shipping

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By Peter Levring and Rasmus Jorgensen

COPENHAGEN, July 1 (Reuters) - Maersk Tankers, the largest product tanker group, expects merger and acquisition activity to pick up at the expense of commercial pools, allowing shippers to cut costs and boost vessel usage, the company's chief said.

Maersk Tankers, which is part of Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) and operates 180 tankers, also expects rivals to pursue it in a quest for larger fleet sizes and cost savings, Chief Executive Soren Skou said.

"I believe the industry will see more balance sheet consolidation in the coming years rather than more pools," Skou told Reuters in an interview. "That way we'll get the large-scale advantage on overhead costs, administration and technical issues."

Commercial pools enable shippers to gain marketing clout and volume but do not give participants the same economies of scale as being a big fleet owner like Maersk.

In 2008, Maersk Tankers' partner, fellow Danish shipper Torm (TORM.CO), bought part of U.S. shipper OMI. Maersk Tankers bought Swedish shipper Brostrom in January for 3.62 billion Swedish crowns ($473.6 million) and expects to complete the integration this year.

Skou said the company may make more acquisitions.

"If we can demonstrate this (Brostrom acquisition) was a sensible thing to do, to shareholders and our board, I'm sure we'll go down that road again," he said.

Maersk Tankers, which controls about 7 percent of the world product tanker fleet, does not expect to cancel any of the 48 vessels it has on order and sees no need for lay-ups despite projects adding 20 percent capacity to its fleet in the next few years, Skou said.

TANKERS FARE BETTER

International shipping has been knocked hard by the global economic downturn largely due to overcapacity caused by a construction boom that took place before the slump began.