the transit tariffs were open to negotiation, de-
Table 16. Icebreaker basis fees
for escorting vessels through the
pending on the specific shipping task, and would
NSR (from Wergeland 1991).
compare favorably with alternative canal routes
and transport by rail. Although there are prob-
Total displacement
lems to be overcome, and the costs appear to be in
(tons)
Basis fee
a state of flux, Administration officials were clearly
From
To
(US$/ton)
open to and inviting of cooperative discussion.
100
1,000
15.20
That being the case, it might be useful for poten-
1,001
2,000
9.16
tial NSR users to obtain information from other
2,001
5,000
5.51
foreign parties that have already used the route
5,001
8,000
4.73
(refer to Table 15). The annual summaries of NSR
8,001
11,000
4.21
activities that are published in Polar Record by
11,001
14,000
3.98
14,001
17,000
3.82
Terence Armstrong following each shipping sea-
17,001
20,000
3.72
son are another source of information. These usu-
20,001
23,000
3.64
ally include reports of foreign involvement.
23,001
27,000
3.56
27,001
30,000
3.26
Proposed Russian fee structure
Some economic information can be found in
Wergeland (1991), who was relied on for the fol-
The tariff for Region A is set at 70% of Region C,
lowing. Prices are in U.S. dollars as of July 1991.
and for B it is 80% of Region C. The tariff for
The guiding principles used by MSC and FESCO
Region C (from Table 16) is assessed for any full-
in determining fees for their services are that:
transit voyage or one that traverses two or more of
these regions.
Rates should not be lower than the actual
Third, ships of lesser ice classification are re-
cost of services rendered;
quired to pay the following relatively higher sur-
Rates should be low enough that an eco-
charges: UL = 20% more, L = 44%, and B/kl = 73%.
nomic advantage is maintained over the al-
Wergeland calculated the icebreaker fee for an L-
ternative canal routes.
class vessel of 15,000 displacement tons sailing in
Region B at ,000 (that is, 15,000 tons .82/
ton 0.8 1.44). The transit tariff for a foreign
That said, "icebreaker fees," more specifically,
depend on the vessel's displacement (size), its ice
icebreaker, on the other hand, is 33% less than that
classification, the route chosen, and the level of
for the ULA-class vessel.
escort or support requir ed. In addition to
Fees for compulsory piloting are assessed sepa-
icebreaking, this fee includes guiding by recon-
rately. The pilot fee is for having a Russian ice
naissance aircraft, hydrographic and meteorologi-
pilot onboard during operations in ice. It is
||content||
.01
cal services, and the use of communication sys-
per nautical mile, based on the ship's "tariff dis-
tems. To arrive at a specific rate, a three-step process
tance" or shortest recommended route. The cost to
is used. First, the basis fee is determined for the
transport the pilot out to the ship is also assessed.
size of the ship. This fee is derived from the rate
Wergeland listed the following additional cost ele-
set for guiding a cargo ship having the highest ice
ments that might be encountered during the voy-
classification (ULA) through the NSR. Table 16
age, citing a regulatory manual entitled Port Dues
shows the sliding scale that is used to determine
and Charges for Commercial Soviet Seaports (the prices
the basis fee: the larger the ship, the lower the per-
are as of the manual's 1988 effective date):
ton tariff.
Second, the NSR has been divided into three
Route recommendation based on meteoro-
different tariff regions based on their historically
logical and ice forecasts where, for example,
known difficulty of transit:
a one-day forecast is and a three-day
forecast is 1;
Region A, from Novaya Zemlya to Sever-
Communication services billed at the rate
naya Zemlya (60E to 90E);
of .20 per minute for telex and .50 per
Region B, from Severnaya Zemlya to the
minute for telephone;
Bering Strait (90E to 169W);
Salary for a Russian helmsman at .33
Region C, which includes all areas north of
per day if the vessel doesn't have one quali-
the 78N parallel.
fied for ice navigation;
54
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