Eddie Valentis backed Pyxis Tankers chalked up a second quarter loss in a difficult freight market.

The product tanker specialist booked a $1.6m loss in the three months to the end of June, a little deeper than the $1.3m red number seen a year earlier.

Valentis, chief executive of Pyxis, said in a statement the company has expected the chartering environment for product tankers to be choppy in the second and third quarters of 2019.