In marine diesel engines, damaged crankshafts are common and expensive defects. Worn surfaces of main bearings and crankpin journals often require a complete replacement of these components. This paper presents the development of a repair procedure on its way to application. As an alternative to the method of grinding the accordant surfaces and using matched bearing shells, a rebuild to the original diameter is the goal of this investigation.This paper describes the development of a controlled diode laser cladding process in the lab and the characterization of flat specimens particularly by metallographic analysis and hardness testing.In preparation of the industrial application, previously ground crankpin journals of crankshafts could successfully be cladded with identical parameters as found on flat specimens in the lab. The claddings show a high quality in terms of connection to the base material and dilution. In hardness tests steep gradients from heat affected zone to unaffected base material could be measured.