239) 
the River Fleets, but cite the need for more detailed planning of 
Operations, and coordination between the two river steamship compa- 
nies and the Northeast Administration of Maritime Fleet Operations.’ 
The Ministry of Maritime Fleet has broad operational and manager- 
ial responsibilities. The complex organizational system requires infor- 
mation, selection of choices, and oversight. Decisions taken on ad- 
ministrative and technical questions can have implicit policy relevance 
in allocating power to subordinate institutions and determining the 
future course of developments. The decisions leading to increased 
investment and growth of the maritime fleet included technical and 
administrative calculations. And the expanded maritime fleet resulted 
in increased international interaction and Soviet participation in inter- 
national shipping conferences, United Nations organizations, and bi- 
lateral agreements. The technical requirements accompanying ex- 
panded navigation have generated management interests that can have 
foreign policy impact. The inadequacy of current radio location 
devices in navigation, for example, is noted in the MMF journal.’ 
The authors who are engineers state that a satellite communications 
system for navigation is the technical basis for resolving this problem. 
They propose the establishment of a global system and note that 
studies are being conducted on the design and implementation of 
a Satellite navigation system. The Soviet Union has in fact been ad- 
vocating a global satellite navigation system and been an active partici- 
pant in the International Maritime Consultative Organization delibera- 
tions on this subject.!% 
Frequently the Soviet explanation of policy or management initia- 
tives is presented in terms of government implementation of Com- 
munist Party directives. This positioning should not obscure the fact 
that most of the preparatory work and subsequent implementation 
is carried out by ministry officials. This multilayered process is evident 
in the case of the Automated Management System (the 
ASU—avtomaticheskaia sistema upravleniia). Due to the rapid growth 
of the fleet and its work and the extension of areas of operation, 
it is increasingly difficult to administer the fleet and ports by old 
methods. The Soviets, concerned with overall economic production, 
have conducted both economic and managerial reforms in order to 
improve operations. The ASU is another method promoted as a solu- 
tion for the entire economy. The MMF was one of the first economic 
branches to develop computerized management because of its rela- 
tively well-developed communications system and technical sophistica- 
tion. The Central Scientific Institute of the Maritime Fleet (TsNIIMF) 
began working out computer programs for the organization of cargo 
movements and distribution of ships back in 1962-63. The ASU 
Morflot is to control the location of vessels and transport processes, 
to plan and regulate fleet and port work, control the fleet’s technical 
1031). Pavlovskii and N. Savin, “Interaction of the Maritime and River Fleet,’ Morskoi Flot no. 11, 
(1972): pp. 10-11. See also “‘RSFSR River Transport Official Hits Procurement Ministry,” Moscow 
Domestic Service in Russian. In FBIS, September 17, 1973, p. T8. See also Oddvar Bo, “The Soviets 
in International Shipping” (pp. 2-9) and Athay for an analysis of the motives behind Soviet maritime 
expansion. 
104A. Iakushenkov, R Cherniaev (Engineering Candidates), “‘Development of Technology for 
Navigation,” Morskoi Flot, no. 2 (1972) pp. 24-5. 
195 Brookings Institution Technology Project, directed by Seyom Brown, “Regimes for the Ocean, 
Outerspace, and the Weather” (Washington: The Brookings Institution. In preparation). 
196 Nicholas G. Shadrin, “‘The Soviet Merchant Marine, A Late Developing Economic Growth Sec- 
tor.”’ In U.S. Congress, Joint Economic Committee, Soviet Economic Prospects for the Seventies: A 
compendium of Papers Submitted to the Joint Economic Committee (Washington: U.S. Government 
Printing Office, June, 1973), p. 748. 
