In Q2 2024, Socep SA Romania (Socep) had a new Konecranes drive retrofitted to one non-Konecranes ship-to-shore (STS) crane at itscontainer terminal in Constanta. This upgrade was intended to improve crane performance and lengthen the operational life of the crane while ensuring the continued availability of spare parts and technical support.

Socep runs two high-volume cargo terminals at the largest port on the Black Sea, the Port of Constanta. At their container terminal, they rely on a small fleet of fast and efficient cranes operating around the clock to load and unload 500,000 TEU per year. One of their STS cranes was no longer supported by the manufacturer, but the body of the crane was still in very good condition; Socep upgraded the crane with a Konecranes drive retrofit.

Part of the Konecranes Any Brand series, this retrofit is compatible with both Konecranes and non-Konecranes STS cranes. In this case, the STS had its AC drives replaced to help optimize operations and simplify maintenance. After just a few months, performance and productivity has improved, and technical support is guaranteed long into the future, adding possibly 10-15 years to the working life of the cranes.

The Konecranes STS drive and control system retrofit is a turnkey solution with customizable features for specific requirements. Here, a non-Konecranes STS had its DC, or AC drives on its hoists, boom hoist, trolley and gantries, motor modules and control units all replaced.

New onboard HMIs was installed for e-room and operator cabin. TRUCONNECT® Remote Monitoring offers digital reports on crane performance and further technical analysis to assist in maintenance.