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Soviet Union [USSR] The Waterway System
In 1987 the Russian Republic's Ministry of the River Fleet and
the main river transportation administrations of the other
republics were, among them, responsible for the 122,500 kilometers
of navigable rivers and man-made waterways. Soviet inland waterways
are divided into four main categories by depth: super main line,
with a guaranteed depth of four meters; main line, with at least
2.6 meters of depth; local, with up to 1.4 meters of depth; and
small river, with a water depth of up to one meter. In the European
part of the country, the Volga, Kama, Don, and Dnepr rivers and
their reservoirs formed the 7,400-kilometer-long United Deep-Water
Network. This network had thirty-six water reservoirs, ninety-two
locks, and a "guaranteed depth" of four meters on 90 percent of its
length. Although many tributaries of large rivers fall generally
into the local and small river categories, they nevertheless
contributed importantly to many regions' economies, and they
represented about 55 percent of the navigable rivers in Siberia and
the Far East.
The river fleet was composed of a wide variety of cargo and
passenger vessels and special-purpose ships, such as tugs and
icebreakers. Dry cargo river ships ranged from 150 to 5,000 tons in
capacity, whereas oil barges ranged up to 9,000 tons. Barge sets,
that is, motorized barges pushing one or more "dumb" barges,
totaled up to 16,000 tons on Siberian rivers and up to 22,000 tons
on the Volga-Kama waterways.
Among the ships, boats, and motorized and "dumb" barges were
specialized vessels designed to carry fruit, grain, ore, cement,
containers, automobiles, and refrigerated cargo. A variety of
passenger vessels, including hydrofoils and air-cushion vehicles,
had a passenger capacity from a few dozen to 1,000 people. In a
special category were the river-ocean vessels, which included dry
bulk carriers (2,700 to 3,000 tons) and liquid tankers (4,800 to
5,000 tons). They made possible direct shipments between domestic
inland ports and some 300 maritime and river ports in twenty-six
countries in Europe, North Africa, and Asia, including Iran and
Japan, as well as Soviet ports on the Arctic Ocean. The fleet of
tugboats, both pullers and pushers, the latter equipped with
automatic couplers for barge trains, was well adapted to general
and specialized operations, including towing huge timber rafts. The
tugboats' engine power ranged from 110 kilowatts to 2,940
kilowatts.
All navigable rivers in the Soviet Union are affected by ice.
Depending on the region, the yearly navigation season has been as
short as 60 days on northern rivers and as long as 230 days on
rivers in warmer climates. Icebreakers were therefore an essential
component of the Soviet inland fleet in order to extend operations
beyond the onset of ice. They were particularly important in the
mouths of rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean, where ice tended to
accumulate because of differences between the thawing seasons of
rivers and seas. Icebreakers also helped river vessels to reach
their wintering ports before the end of the navigable season.
Data as of May 1989
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