Norway's Tidemand family insists it ­remains equally focused on all of its shipping business segments, rebuffing speculation that it has been trimming its position in Stove Shipping.

Kristin Tidemand, who runs the family-owned operations alongside her sister Caroline and their father Otto, said the focus is across the companies: owner Stove Shipping, bulker operator Eastern Bulk Carriers and shipbroker Lorentzen & Stemoco.