The most pressing and difficult problem to ad-
had a staff member nearby who understood and
dress may be the lack of incentive to deliver freight
spoke English.
in the most efficient and economical manner. Inef-
On the other hand, Russia's telecommunications
ficiencies plague virtually all aspects of the sys-
equipment is outdated and often unreliable
tem. Labor discontent is reported aboard icebreak-
(Franzen 1993). Telephone lines into Russia are
ers and cargo ships (Armstrong 1990, 1991, 1992b).
overloaded and very often busy. The quality of the
Several experts contacted for this study speculated
connection is sometimes poor, which can be detri-
that the shipping companies have an endemic pref-
mental for facsimile transmission. There were no
erence for dealing with large bureaucratic entities,
apparent difficulties in our receiving telefaxes, but
giving low priority to small business transactions
we experienced much difficulty in trying to send
where the profit potential for each is less. This
fax messages to Russia.
may be a cultural artifact stemming from decades
Franzen (1993) presents a recent evaluation of
of state-mandated controls over the distribution
the communications systems servicing Russia and
of goods and services.
several alternatives to avoid the unreliable tele-
Negative social and ecological effects from un-
phone and telefax systems. Due to these problems,
controlled Arctic development have been identi-
many Russian businesses are setting up subsidiar-
fied as a potential risk. The Arctic regions form a
ies in neighboring European and Scandinavian
delicate ecosystem that recovers very slowly after
countries to take advantage of modern and/or
change is introduced. Arikaynen (1991), Young and
more reliable communications technology to the
Osherenko (1991), Roginko (1991, 1993), Stokke
outside world. We learned from more than one
(1992), Hansson (1992, 1993), and Osherenko
knowledgeable U.S. source that fax machines in
(1993), for example, advocate international vigi-
Russia are often shut off after business hours, which
lance and strong cooperative agreement for envi-
is a problem (though easily remedied) for poten-
ronmental protection. Indeed, one of the four main
tial clients half a world away. Many Russian busi-
focuses of INSROP is to inventory the indigenous
nesses limit incoming faxes to a single page to
human, animal, and plant populations of the Arc-
conserve paper. The unwary sender, in the habit of
tic to create a baseline for assessing the impacts of
preceding his message with a cover page, would
development (Brekke and Fjeld 1991). Though sev-
thus not be in communication.
eral authors point out that environmental protec-
Electronic mail is in the early stages of develop-
tion has not been emphasized in the Soviet past
ment in Russia. Although AARI is connected to
(for example, Hansson 1993, Osherenko 1993,
the Internet, no other agencies or companies we
Hume 1984), there appears today to be a shared
contacted were. Franzen (1993) reports that al-
international awareness and concern, which these
though e-mail allows electronic communication via
authors and others hope will translate into ade-
modem from a desktop computer to any telex ter-
quate safeguards.
minal worldwide, error correction software is re-
Another related problem is the difficulty of find-
quired to help ensure clear messages.
ing return cargo, which can lead to slow turn-
Although the infrastructure is already in place
around for ships or costly return voyages without
to fully support NSR traffic during the summer
cargo (Wergeland 1992, Armstrong 1993). This
season, it has been suggested (Wergeland 1991,
problem should diminish with increased import
streng 1991) that it will be difficult to attract
export activity along the route. Greater interna-
greater foreign interest unless the navigation sea-
tional effort to promote awareness of the route,
son can be extended. The additional investment
more demonstration voyages, and gradual elimi-
for building ice-class ships is considerable. These
nation of the unknowns will help to expand the
ships are not ideal for use in other parts of the
NSR cargo base.
world when the Arctic passage is closed for the
winter, and they are less efficient and more costly
to run in open water than conventional vessels.
Infrastructural
The language barrier may be of some concern
An ice-strengthened vessel costs 15 to 20% more
to potential users of the NSR, but our experience
to build, according to Wergeland (1993b). To offset
in contacting various Russian agencies and busi-
the greater construction, operating, and mainte-
nesses for this project did not reveal any serious
nance costs, shipowners rely on the ships provid-
communication problems, once we were able to
ing year-round service. Since depth limitations in
establish contact. The ANSR, the shipping compa-
some straits prevent passage of ships greater than
nies, and almost all other agencies we contacted
20,000 dwt, the shallow-draft fleet of the Northern
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