D3y/ 
Collegium activities are occasionally described in press accounts, 
and the tasks range from daily management and staffing to decisions 
on planning future fleet development. The collegium can hear reports 
from chiefs of administrations, take decisions on management and 
make recommendations on the conduct of work.%? The collegium can 
reach directly to lower levels, firing administrators whose work is 
ineffective.°** The MMF collegium can also commission reports, review 
a broad range of questions, and approve proposals of subordinate 
organs. 
Coordinating internal ministry work is complex. In addition to the 
central ministry office, there are 16 steamship companies in the Soviet 
Union that are grouped on a regional basis into three area administra- 
tions and are also under the general supervision of the Main Adminis- 
tration of Fleet and Port Operations. The division of powers between 
these levels is not always clear cut, nor, it seems, observed. Each 
steamship company is a large economic enterprise with responsibilities 
for the operation of ships, ports, ship repair yards, salvage and general 
management. The Baltic Sea Company, for example, has a dry cargo 
fleet of over 200 vessels, totaling over 2 million dwt. It handles over 
35 million tons of cargo yearly and manages the largest ship repair 
yards in the Soviet Union. A number of administrative subdivisions 
exist in every company to handle functional tasks and each company 
has a council that meets regularly to discuss management problems, 
personnel needs, construction, and other management issues.*° Steps 
have been taken to expand the authority of individual steamship com- 
panies and limit the central powers of the minister to general problems 
of technical development and overall planning. However, criticism 
of the arbitrary directives of the ministry continues.*’ The three area 
administrations were recently established as an intermediate authority 
to handle management and coordinating activities of all the shipping 
organizations in their region. 
The MMF also has a number of important functional divisions. 
The following listing is not exhaustive, but does suggest the extensive 
allocation of administrative responsibilities. The Main Administration 
of Communications and Radio Navigation studies questions of develop- 
ment and use of equipment; the Main Administration of Navigation 
reviews accidents and safety measures and sees that recommendations 
are implemented. The Main Administrations of Material and Technical 
Supply and Trade and Fleet Provision that handle fleet supplies. There 
is a Main Administration for the Development and Construction of 
Ports, Yards, and Other Shore Enterprises. Sovfracht, transferred from 
the Ministry of Foreign Trade to the MMF in 1962 is in charge 
“Official notice: On the Basis of the New Administration Structures,’ Vodnyi Transport Sep- 
tember 22, 1973. 
4 Editorial, “The Main Link,” Vodyni Transport October 4, 1973. 
*In this case, on the preparation of specialists for 1976-1990. ‘‘Official Notice: Preparation of 
Specialists,” Vodnyi Transport October 25, 1973. 
*6 A. Voronkov, Y. Klementyev, ‘‘The Soviet Merchant Marine” (Moscow: Novosti Press Agency 
Publishing House, 1974) pp. 30-35. 
87 Athay, p. 49. 
