Royce & Associates has backed away from three New York-listed shipping companies to the tune of nearly $2.4m.

The US small-cap player with $12.8bn in assets under management sold 32,488 units of diversified owner Seacor Holdings for $1.34m while still keeping an interest of about 7.8%.

Charles Fabrikant-led Seacor Holdings' units closed today at $41.32, gaining 1.7%.

Top investors include Black Rock Fund Advisors, Vanguard Group and Dimensional Fund Advisors with respective stakes of 13.04%,