Christian Thiele

Christian is a partner based in Copenhagen and a core member of Schjødt's shipping and logistics practice. He advises clients across the full breadth of shipping and logistics law, with no hard boundaries between transactional work, advisory mandates, and disputes - bringing a genuinely rounded perspective to each matter he handles.

On the transactional side, Christian's work is high-volume and spans the full lifecycle of shipping transactions. He regularly acts as lead counsel on shipbuilding projects, advising major operators and owners from contract negotiation through construction and delivery of vessels representing investments in the tens and hundreds of millions of euros. He has handled well over a hundred sale and purchase transactions involving second-hand tonnage across all major vessel types and has advised on the conclusion of charter parties across the full range of shipping segments - offshore, container, bulk, tanker, and cruise - on both owner and charterer sides. Beyond straight S&P and chartering work, Christian also advises on more complex transactional structures, including joint ventures, sale and lease back, and vessel financing.

On the disputes side, Christian has been involved in some of the most technically and legally complex shipping disputes to have arisen in Denmark in recent years. He has acted as lead counsel for a major international carrier in a multi-million dollar warranty claim against a main engine manufacturer arising from engine defects across a fleet of vessels. He has advised clients on the establishment of limitation funds following serious vessel casualties, and on structural risk issues arising from established cargo documentation practices. He has also acted in multiple high-stakes, multi-strand shipbuilding disputes at shipyards, navigating overlapping insolvency risk, English-law contracts, charter arrangements, and bank financing.

Christian has also developed a significant secondary specialism in defence procurement. He advises both the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) directly, as well as suppliers and contractors engaged in Danish defence supply arrangements across a wide range of categories, from vessels to uniforms, optics and sighting equipment, and other defence supplies. His defence procurement work reflects an ability to move between the technical requirements of commercial shipping law and the distinct procedural and regulatory framework that governs public defence procurement in Denmark.

Christian has been a lawyer since 2009 and has previously worked for a major international shipping company and as an external lecturer at Copenhagen Business School, where he taught maritime law on the BSc in International Shipping and Trade. His in-house background gives him a practical, commercially grounded perspective that clients across all parts of his practice consistently value.

Christian is ranked as Up and Coming in Shipping by Chambers & Partners Europe, and as a Next Generation Partner in Shipping and Transport by Legal 500