THE DIRECTORATE OF THE CASPIAN SEA ROUTES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R012900120002-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 16, 2006
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: July 14, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457RO12900120002-8
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
SE=
SECURITY INFORMATION
INFORMATION REPORT REPORT NO.
CD NO.
COUNTRY ; USSR (erbazhan SSR)
25x1 SUBJECT The Directorate of the Caspian Sea Reutee
DATE DISTR. 14 Julv 1952
NO. OF PAGES
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE 18, SECTIONS 793
AND 794, OF THE U.S. CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVE-
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS
PROHIBITED BY LAW. THE REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
30
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
The Directorate of the Caspian Sea Routes (K pMarPeat) is subardinat+e-to the
Chief Directorate of Mariti as (G1 t) of the Ministry of the,
Merchant Fleet (Mi nMoWl ?t - MM ),y Its headquarters are located in Bakes,
Nod 5 Dzhaparidze 3 tsa4 The chief of the directorate is Minaskult (fnu)
Captains MFp First Class,
The area of responsibility Of the directorate covers the who a of the
Caspian. Seas except the northern part which i&. under ReydTekhFlot. In its
area the directorate must keep the sea routes open and properly marked# dredge
the harbors,, and maintain all bt s and channel markings which are not actually
within the harboors, Maintenance of the markings inside the harbors is the
responsibility of the individual porta The work done by the directorate for
the various ports is paid for by the port officials through the barnks0
The organization of the Directorate of the Caspian Sea Routes is very similar
to that of ReydTekbFlot and consists of the following sectionsi
The Planning and Economic Section. (PlanGYO Proisvodstvennyy Otdel), deals
with the financial aspects of the projects to be carried out by the
directorate and makes estimates on the relative costs-of labor and
materials.
NSRB
FBI
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b. The Dredging Machinery Section (SudoMekhanioheskiy atdel)
is responsible for the proper operation and maintenance of
the dredging equipment.
The Designing Section (Xanstruktorskiy ptdial) pI'eparee' blue-
prints and drawings for repair and maintenance work.
The Accounting Office performs all the accounting work of
the directorate.
e, The Finance Section performs routine : financial duties.
f;o The Personnel'Section handles routine personnel matters.
The Administrative Section handles mail, typing and other
routine office matters.
The Supply Section processes the requests for office supplies
and other equipment needed by subordinate units.
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The Mobilization Section handles the records and files of
persoel and cooperates in this matter with the offices ,of
the V? ? nko ;%,, The special records which are kept of each
e aleyee indicate. his general qualifications and assignments.
They are on file in the offices of the rbj6hk6mat as we-3a go.
in those of EaspMorPut
There is no.labor and wages section, no political saotion,,and
no classified documents section because all. these matters are
handled by the Caspian Dry Cargo Steamship Company (KaspFlot) 11
.for the Directorate of the Caspian Sea Routes.
The three main areas of operation of KaspMorPut are Baku,
Makhacbkala.,~ and Krasnovodek-IIfra..
. C,m
In Baku the work consists mainly of dredging operations in
the harbor itself, to-maintain the depth close to the piers,
and in the Bay of I1'icha, directly south of Baku. This work,.
done for the Ministry of the Merchant Fleet,' requires the
services of two dipper dredges. Another project, started
before the war, consists in digging a channel between the
Islands of Artem and Zhiloy to eliminate the necessity of .going
around the eastern end of Zhiloy and thus to shorten the route.
of vessels coming to Baku from the north or leaving. in that' ' '
direction. hew much progress was made there
thealluvial deposits filling the sal
ve caused great di-14 iculties.
In Makhachkala very extensive dredging was done for the NIF
in the harbor itself to maintain the depth of water close' to-, tie
shore. The primed difficulty met here, by-the one fairly
large hydraulic dredge used in this port, has been caused by
the rocky bottom.
The third major area of operation is in Krasnovodsk and. inn
nearby Ufra, directly east of it. According to a rumor which
was current in 198, work had been started there to make.tthe
harbor accessible to naval vessels because it was to become
a naval base. The difficulty not with in this place was caused
by accumulations of sulphuric gas contained in the clay. bottom..
The gas, released by the dredging, strongly affected the
Workers.
SECRET/SECURITY INFORMATION
Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R012900120002-8
 Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R012900120002-8
SEC /SZCMTY INPO TION
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the directorate's most extensive pro ect is the
Krasaovodsk channels which has a branch going to Ufra.
. 1 . roiiowing aevaiie on snese cnanneie:
The Srasnovodek channel is' about 25 to 30 miles long, about
1 feet deep, and approximately 160 feet wide. It is opsh
only to tankers up to five thousand gross tons and .a lot"
tanker of the 10 thous**- toy! - claee s - could nOt get`
The channel is marked by buoys, spaced two miles apart,,'halt,
of them lighted. Seventy-five per sent of these lighted
buoys have a. steady light] the others' have a, flashing light.
There is. a buoy equipped with__a..._ irea at the place mere, Atha
two channels meet.
b The Ufra channel is eight to 10 miles long, 10 feet deep.,: ate;
about 80 feet wide. . Host of the dredging on this e1s ail .ate
done one or two miles from the shore to allow tamlcere tc .get
to Ufra, even. small tankers cannot go
beyond tae.urra roaeisveaas.
Three dredges are used in thin, area. One .ern hydraulic
dredge, the Nazandaran , and one dipper dredge are used at
Krasnovodsk an ne+ pper dredge at Ufra.
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6. Dredging done at Ufra constitutes the largest volume of - earth moved.
25X1 in any one area.
25X1 the total or the re - ra .e
mounts to a oa three on cubic meters annually.
7. During the war the directorate ,t,d its greatest amount .of work
at the Iranian ports of Bandar Shah amde to a lesser extent, -at
Resht. This work was done for the Navy and at Bandar Shah consisted
mostly in build a Natural spit into a more effective breakwater
25X1 for the harbor.
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Equipment
8. The equipment of the directorate consists of the following:.
There are about four or five dipper dredges and two hydraulic
dredges. One of the latter, the t is an ea-dermsn
aandar Shah,>Nhere
-vessel which was captured by the $!w ee e Al
a German firm' was doing some contract work -for the Iranian
goverment. It is a modern hydraulip dredge' with a _ auction.
pipe,, about 18 inches in diameter, . that can be . extended two,hula,. -
25X1 from the ship. The other hydraulic
.
drudge, the ? Lenkorau , has a lower capacity but is still a':'
25X1 very good dr
'There are about 10 tugs, all.old construction, some with
Diesel and others with steam propulsion, which have 200-300 hp.
There are about 20 metal barges with gross tonnages'. up to
500 tons-*,
.There is one transport ship, the Zakfederats as ; vrhich is
used to carry supplies to the various projects. .It has about
one thousand tons, compound steam engines, and T50 hp.
S RET/5ECURITY? I 'ORP ATION. .
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SRCRST/SR(;URITY INFORMATION
,The transport ship and the dredges have two-way radios.
TO= dt tai sad the Parizhskaya KO a .,
both at Baku.
those yards are under the Chief Directorate of Industrial
Thevessele of the directorate are repaired at two yards,.the
-
Raterpi lse.s 1GiavMorprom) of the Mo.
:10. The. 4:iraotorate employs ,,a total of about one thousand, people of
whom about *0 are engineers. Many of these do not have regular
diplomas but ate merely teehnisisns, with considerable practical
25X1 of ex ineeria ,.
25X1 F
saes/rTr..aMsON
Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457RO12900120002-8