Wheeling and dealing behind closed doors was a good policy to help Greek shipping grow and prosper in the years after World War II. However, it will no longer do in a rapidly changing, interconnected world with new priorities, one of the country's highest-profile shipowners tells TradeWinds.

“We can’t hide in our shell any more,” Panos Laskaridis says.

Laskaridis, co-principal of major reefer and dry bulk company Lavinia Corp, has been leading from the front in efforts to make...