Timon Karamanos

Practice Areas

Maritime, Port, Seaport, Shipping, Terminal, Transport, Marine Casualty, Charterparty, Shipbuilding, Commodities, Bill of Lading, International Trade, Cargo, MOA disputes, Carriage of Goods by Sea, Marine Insurance

Career

Having trained and qualified at international law firms in London and Athens, Timon joined Hill Dickinson in 2009, being promoted to partner in 2015.

He has responsibility for the Greek office’s litigation team, which he continues to contribute to and expand.

He is widely-regarded for his broad maritime law practice, and is regularly instructed by shipowners, operators, ship-managers, cargo interests, and their insurers.

His practice is cross-jurisdictional, often involving running substantive proceedings both in arbitration and Court in England contemporaneously with other jurisdictions worldwide.

In a time of ever-increasing geopolitical tension, he has been involved in advising clients with respect to issues arising out of the Covid pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the blocking and trapping of vessels there, as well as the hijacking and seizure of vessels in Iran and Libya.

In an increasingly complex sanctions environment, he recently assisted clients, following the hijacking of their vessel in the Middle East, with negotiations and arrangements for the transhipment of the cargo on board, in mitigation of additional losses, and arrangements for its release.

Timon assists in preparing clients for regulatory amendments and the imposition of tariffs, which often occur suddenly.

He regularly advises on both ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ shipping matters, issues arising out of the carriage of sensitive and dangerous cargoes, collisions and breakdowns of machinery and equipment, the sale and purchase of vessels, as well as issues of maritime fraud.

He seeks to prevent the escalation of disputes and is often involved by clients at the inception of a matter, so as to be able to assist in doing so. Timon is an advocate of mediation and early intervention, for these reasons.

Professional Memberships

Law Society of England and Wales

Piraeus Bar Association

Supporting Member of the London Maritime Arbitrators’ Association

Personal

Timon enjoys film, the theatre, music, cooking, trying to keep vaguely fit and avid debate of current affairs.

Clients

Timon acts for shipowners, charterers, cargo interests, sellers and buyers of ships, clients of shipyards – as well as their respective insurers, across a wide range of contractual and non-contractual contexts, most often where disputes or disagreements arise, but also in negotiating contracts, and facilitating collaborations and joint-ventures.

Work Highlights

Partner from May 2015. Ranked in Chambers Global and Legal 500 individually since 2017.

Acted for the successful claimant in Southeaster Maritime Ltd -v- Trafigura Maritime Logistics PTE Ltd (The Aquafreedom) [2024] EWHC 255 (Comm) – the third of a series of cases concerning contractual ‘subjects’, following The Leonidas [2021] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 165 and The Newcastle Express [2023] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 245. Assisted clients in achieving summary judgment.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

England & Wales

Greece

Highly experienced in cross-border disputes

Languages Spoken

English (native)

Greek (native)

French (fluent)

Spanish (fluent)

Italian (conversational)

Education