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Union in particular has established bunkering and transshipment points 
in almost every area fished by Soviet vessels. The most important 
of these include Singapore (servicing the Soviet fishery fleets operating 
in the Indian and Pacific Oceans); Havana, Cuba (Atlantic Ocean); 
and the Canary Island (Atlantic Ocean). Other ports such as Port 
Louis, Mauritius (Indian Ocean) and St. Pierre and Miquelon, French 
possessions off the Atlantic coast of Canada, also have been utilized 
this way. 
The Soviets sometimes acquire port facilities by establishing joint 
ventures with the other country involved. For example, under an 
agreement signed in Singapore on June 19, 1975, a new seafood 
processing firm called Marissco, Ltd. is to be formed. SOVRYBFLOT, 
the foreign trading branch of the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries, and 
Straits Fisheries, Ltd., a company that is partly owned by the Develop- 
ment Bank of Singapore, will own the company jointly on an equal 
share (50-50) basis. Marissco, Ltd. will not only process, but also 
package and sell on the international market various species of fish, 
lobsters, squid, cuttlefish, prawns, and byproducts, including fishmeal. 
A large cold-storage plant will be built in the Jurong port complex 
to provide processing facilities and warehouse space for fishery catches 
unloaded from Soviet trawlers. Singapore’s location halfway between 
the Indian and Pacific Oceans is ideal for the Soviet fishing fleet, 
which operates extensively in both areas. 
A Soviet joint venture with Spain in the Canary Islands has been 
functioning successfully since 1969. In that year, the two countries 
signed an agreement creating ““SOVISPAN,” a company whose pur- 
pose is to develop the Canary Islands as a supply, crew rotation, 
and transshipment base for the Soviet fishing fleet. New port installa- 
tions, which service Soviet vessels operating in the central Atlantic, 
have been built at Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Fishery 
products not used for Soviet domestic consumption (octopus, squid, 
etc.) are exported directly from Santa Cruz. 
The establishment of a Soviet fisheries base in Cuba involved a 
considerably greater degree of cooperation than did the agreements 
with Singapore and Spain. The Soviet Ministry of Fisheries, no less 
than the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs, foresaw the excel- 
lent possibilities in establishing a base for distant-water fishing fleets 
on that strategically-located island. The U.S.S.R. desired Cuba as a 
fishing base, as much as the Cuban Government desired a rapid 
development of its marine fisheries. If the U.S.S.R. would build the 
Cubans a modern fishing port, then the Cubans would permit the 
Soviets to use this new port as a base for their fishery operations 
in the central and southern Atlantic. 
The agreement on the construction of the fishing harbor was signed 
in Havana on September 25, 1962, by Soviet Minister of Fisheries 
Aleksandr Ishkov and Cuban Premier Fidel Castro. Under the terms 
of the agreement, the Soviet Union obligated itself to construct, during 
1962-65, an entire port complex with fish processing, ship repair, 
and communication facilities capable of servicing and operationally 
supporting a large fleet. The Soviets promised to provide the complete 
blueprint for the construction of the port and its facilities; provide 
equipment and construction materials not available in Cuba; and to 
supply experts, engineers, construction foremen, and other personnel 
