With 28 years of experience in maritime consulting, Stephan Wurst is the Managing Partner of Balance, a Bremen-based company specializing in strategic research and environmental innovation for the naval sector. His career has led him to work with shipyards, initially focusing on design and cost optimization before shifting his expertise toward environmental challenges.
As part of the Circles of Life project, Stephan is responsible for Work Package 2 (WP2), which is dedicated to developing a digital tool for evaluating the environmental performance of shipyards: the Shipyard Environmental Performance Index (SEPI). This initiative aims to structure and simplify the analysis of shipyard environmental impacts based on key indicators:
- GHG emissions and energy consumption
- Air, water, and soil pollution
- Material circularity and waste management
- Social acceptance and nuisances (noise, light, etc.)
Stephan and his team are actively working on designing, specifying, and implementing this tool as dedicated software. His ambition? To provide engineers and decision-makers with a reliable support system to evaluate and compare shipyards’ environmental performance, identify areas for improvement, and better comply with regulatory requirements. The dual objective is to help shipyards structure their environmental transition while enhancing their competitiveness and attractiveness in an increasingly demanding industry.
Beyond research and technical development, Stephan is committed to integrate the SEPI into existing industry standards and encouraging greater transparency from shipyards regarding their environmental practices.
With over 30 years of experience in European projects, Stephan has witnessed the evolution of priorities, from digitalization to ecological transition, and how these transformations have shaped the maritime industry. His work on WP2 aligns with this dynamic, with an SEPI prototype expected by the end of 2025.
Stephan contributes to shaping a more responsible and resilient shipbuilding industry through this approach, where environmental performance becomes both a strategic advantage and a regulatory necessity.
Photo caption: Stephan (r) and the BAL SEPI team during an in-depth discussion about the software concept.
