The electrical systems of any dockside cranes invariably have a shorter life span than the very substantial mechanical parts. There is a point where the time and cost of maintenance of the crane's drives becomes uneconomic and downtime is seriously affecting the operation of the dockyard or the factory. Then crane user meets the question: «What is better? To buy a new crane or to repair an old one?» New crane always promises better perspectives while repair usually is more cheap. Nevertheless repair leads to search rare or NOS spare parts. We suggest the third way — retrofitting of crane drives. It means to replace old electric equipment by modern one and to leave original metal constructions which can continue working in 15-20 years and more.