评论
打印
How can the Russians afford to undercut by up to 40 percent? Well, Soviet ships are not necessarily out to make a profit, in our sense of the word. The name of the same ,for Russian ships, is hard currency.
俄国人将货运价格降低了40%，他们怎么能承担如此大幅度削价所造成的损失呢?这是因为苏联的商船不一定要努力去赚取我们所理解的那种利润。对于俄国商船来说，最重要的目标是获取硬通货。
The Soviet Union is becoming more dependent on Western imports -from grain to technology-but the West will not accept roubles in payment.
苏联现在越来越离不开西方的进口货物--从粮食到技术--但西方国家不会接受以卢布付款。
So Russia needs hard currencies, like the dollar, the mark or the yen, even sterling, to pay for its imports. It is these currencies Russian ships earn as cross-traders.
因此，俄国需要像美元、德国马克或日元，甚至包括英镑这样的硬通货来支付进口货物的货款。
It does not matter very much if they are operating at a loss; that can be made up by the Soviet government in roubles.
苏联商船打入国际贸易市场就是为了赚取这些硬通货。对他们来说，即使是赔本经营也无关紧要，他们的亏空可以由苏联政府用卢布来补偿。
But there is more to it than that for the Russians.
但苏联的目的还不止于此。
The Soviet mercantile marine obviously acts as a support to the Soviet navy, very much as Western fleets used to do.
苏联的商船队显然还充当着其海军的后备军的角色，这有点类似于从前的西方商船队，
But there are important differences. The Soviet merchant fleet, which has now been almost 20 years in growing, has developed the kinds of ships which would certainly expand the Soviet reach well beyond its perimeters.
但两者之间又存在着重大的差别。苏联商船队在经过近20年来的发展壮大后现已拥有各种船只，能使苏联将其势力扩张到远远超出其国境线以外的地区。
For example, much of the heavy equipment for the Cubans and Angolans was brought in Soviet merchant ships.
比如，提供给古巴和安哥拉的重型装备有许多就是由苏联商船运输的。
So this mercantile marine capability is certainly a great advance in the Soviet ability to project their power at some distance from their own frontiers.
因此，苏联商船队如今所具有的运输能力大大加强了苏联在本土以外进行远距离势力扩张的能力。
And this is also part of a general Soviet hydrographic policy to map the oceans of the world, to get to know the ports and, above all, to deepen contacts with the states with whom the Russians are developing close trading ties.
这也是苏联所执行的一项海洋地理勘测总体规划的一个组成部分，这个总体规划的内容包括勘测世界各大海洋，侦察世界各港口，而更重要的是，加深同那些与苏联有着密切的贸易关系的国家之间的联系。
