Alaskans from across the state have worked at the grassroots level, and through charities, churches, Native organizations, and government at all levels in many humanitarian aid programs for the Russian Far East. In December 2000, the state of Alaska worked with the State Department to organize a humanitarian aid workshop in Anchorage to help Alaskans navigate the aid bureaucracy and smooth the flow of Alaska-RFE aid. Alaska has been the largest single source and impetus for humanitarian to the RFE, according to the Russian consul general at the Russian consulate in Seattle.

Chukotka

Numerous grassroots groups have sent food, clothes and materials to Chukotka. Alaska aid has been spearheaded by Alaskan Friends of Chukotka in Nome, Russian Far East Task Force in Anchorage, Russian Far East Missions in Homer and Palmer, Samaritan's Pursue in Soldotna, SOAR International in Soldotna, Matanuska-Susitna Borough Operation Russian Far East, North Slope Borough and many others. The Alaska Red Cross plans to help organize a counterpart Red Cross in Chukotka.

In addition to the humanitarian aid sent to Chukotka, Alaskans have sent tools, supplies and equipment to Native subsistence hunters to help provide the materials needed for a sustainable subsistence economy. The North Slope Borough has been providing fishing nets, outboard motors, binoculars, harsh weather clothes and other practical necessities for subsistence hunting and fishing activities. The North Slope Borough even donated generators to the village of New Chaplino.

Kamchatka

Unalaska/Dutch Harbor and Homer, Alaska, have sent aid to the Kamchatka city of Yelizovo and the village of Nikolskoye on Bering Island. Unalaska paid for fuel sufficient to provide to needy families and public facilities on Nikolskoye for a year free of charge. Several religious charities have also been sending supplies to Kamchatka. Rotary Clubs have joined the effort to send aid to Kamchatka. Alaska Aleut organizations are planning new medical assistance and aid efforts.

Magadan

The city of Anchorage mounted a large aid effort for Magadan during winter, 1998-1999, by arranging to have Anchorage area supermarkets sell individual boxes of food staples, which Anchorage residents purchased for delivery and free distribution to needy Magadan residents. About 1,000 boxes were shipped on two Alaska-based U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo carriers and another 15,000 by ship. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough also participated in the food box program for Magadan.

Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

Alaskans collected clothes, food, medical supplies, heating materials and more for victims of devastating flooding in southern Sakha in 1998. The goods were delivered to Yakutsk by an Echo Bay Mines corporate Boeing 727 and by sea in containers.

Sakhalin

Alaska conducted an emergency airlift of medical supplies and other goods following a devastating earthquake that killed and injured thousands and destroyed homes and towns in 1995. Church groups and individuals continued to bring aid to Sakhalin. Current and ongoing assistance involves primarily technical assistance projects.

RFE Aid

Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles persuaded U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman to include the Russian Far East in the U.S.-Russia food aid program in 1998 and 1999.

Gov. Knowles also convinced USDA to put Alaska salmon on the food commodities list, resulting in the purchase of some 6,000 tons of Alaska canned pink salmon for free distribution to needy Russian families. Alaska salmon was purchased by the Global Jewish Assistance and Relief Network for distribution in Russia and Ukraine.

Alaska has urged USDA and charities to continue to purchase Alaska pink salmon, in cans and pouches, for humanitarian aid as well as Alaska potatoes and other products that could be shipped directly from Alaska.

The Alaska Rotary District includes eastern Russia and has given rise to many Rotary-sponsored Alaska-RFE educational and humanitarian activities.

Chukotka

Alaska started a new era in RFE relations with the pioneering "Friendship Flight" to Chukotka in 1988, one of many perestroika-era efforts to melt the "Ice Curtain" and establish normal relations.

Alaska Eskimos have renewed regular contacts with their Chukotka kin and Native neighbors. Many families have relatives on both sides of the border. Russian and Alaskan Bering Strait region Native residents are eligible for visa-free travel – the only Americans and Russians who are allowed to travel back and forth without visas.

Bering Air charters flights between Nome and Provideniya. There is travel by private boat between Provideniya-area villages and Alaska's St. Lawrence Island villages.

Eco-tourism to Chukotka comes through Alaska.

The Beringia program involves the Alaska region of the National Park Service and Russian parks officials and scientists in projects covering the Bering Strait region.

Chukotka Natives work with Alaska's North Slope Borough and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission in conducting marine mammal surveys that benefit subsistence hunters by collecting scientific data.

Joint management activities between wildlife officials and Natives in Chukotka and Alaska focus on polar bear and walrus management.

Adventurers have been lured to cross the Bering Strait on skis, by dogsled, by snowmobile, wind surfing, by balloon and by kayak. Some have even traversed the divide between Alaska's Little Diomede Island and Russia's Big Diomede Island by swimming it in summer and walking across the Bering Strait ice in winter.

Relations with Chukotka cooled in the 1990s because the Chukotka administration at the time spurned joint activities and kept the region in semi-isolation. However, Native groups persisted in carrying an array of joint activities. The recent election of a new governor, Roman Abramovich, has fostered a renewed desire to rekindle warm relations between Alaska and Chukotka and has led to a flurry of new overtures and initiatives of all kinds. In June 2001, on the anniversary of the initial Alaska Friendship flight to Chukotka, more than 200 Alaskans and Chukotkans gathered in Nome for the Alaska-Chukotka Summit 2001 to discuss renewed cooperation of all kinds.

Kamchatka

Alaska has weekly flights between Anchorage and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Adventure tourism to Kamchatka is funneled through Alaska.

Alaska Aleuts are developing relations with the Aleuts of Kamchatka and the Kommandorsky (Commander) Islands and have formed the Aleut International Association to work together and are planning cooperative projects.

Alaska Volcano Observatory scientists work with their counterparts on volcano studies and warnings systems for the many active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc.

Recent overtures from the Kamchatka Division of Foreign Economic Relations and Tourism have proposed greater cooperation between Alaska and Kamchatka.

Many Alaska - Kamchatka connections and contacts are outlined in a report available in English and Russian: www.dced.state.ak.us/trade/russia/kamchatkaconnections.htm

Magadan

One weekly roundtrip flight connects Anchorage and Magadan, with onward connections to other RFE destinations.

The University of Alaska Anchorage American Russian Center operates a Business Education Center in Magadan. This center has hosted trade fairs and worked to promote investment in the Magadan Region.

Magadan has sister city relations with Anchorage.

Magadan area mining activities have been supported out of Alaska.

There is limited Magadan tourism and business originating in Alaska.

Magadan is planning an offshore oil and gas lease sale in 2001.

Magadan has recently established a Special Economic Zone with incentives for business to encourage foreign investment and economic development. A summary of the new Special Economic Zone along with the federal SEZ law, the Magadan region SEZ law and a catalogue of Magadan businesses are all available at: www.dced.state.ak.us/trade/russia/magadan

Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

Alaska has trade, government, education and other relations with the Sakha Republic.

University of Alaska Fairbanks has summer language program in the Sakha Republic.

Sakha has a representative based in Anchorage at the Northern Forum secretariat. The president of the Northern Forum is Sakha President Mikhail Nikolayev.

There is very limited tourism and trade. There is potential for more business, especially if Sakha Republic mining operations, particularly those with Western interests, go forward, and staging could be out of Anchorage. Sakhalin government and business delegations have come to Alaska on a regular basis. Various Sakha delegations have visited Alaska.

Sakhalin

Alaska's most extensive RFE contacts have been with Sakhalin. Alaska employs a state trade representative in Sakhalin on a contract basis.

Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles has visited Sakhalin twice and Sakhalin Gov. Igor Farkhutdinov has made three official visits to Alaska. There have been Duma-Legislature visits, government delegation visits and business-to-business missions. Various agreements on cooperation have been signed between Alaska and Sakhalin.

Numerous Alaska businesses have interests on Sakhalin, largely in the oil and gas support industry, and others are forming partnerships and seeking contracts.

The University of Alaska American Russian Center operates a Business Training Center in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Alaska’s Mining and Petroleum Training Service operates Sakhalin Alaska College as a technical training school.

Alaska has conducted various USAID technical assistance projects in Sakhalin.

The Alaska Division of International Trade & Market Development has a contract trade representative on Sakhalin.

Other Alaska – Russia Connections

Khabarovsk. The University of Alaska operates an American Russian Center for business training in Khabarovsk.

Vladivostok. There have been regular exchanges with sister city Juneau.

Irkutsk. Mineral resource exploration from Alaska-based interests.

Buryatia. Business delegations have visited Alaska.

Other Russian regions / Republics. Alaska companies have had business interests, to a lesser extent, in Siberia, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Former Soviet republics also have attracted Alaska interest, particularly areas where there are oil and gas developments, such as the Caspian Sea region and the republics of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and even Georgia on the Black Sea. Cooperation and delegation visits have also included Khanty-Mansiisk, Komi, Yamal-Nenets and other northern regions of Russia.

Kamchatka (Russian/English)

Alaska does not have a Russian consulate office. The Russian Consulate General in Seattle handles visas for Alaska and other northern states. Alaskans should submit visa applications to:

Russian Federation Consulate General - Seattle
2001 Sixth Avenue - 2323 Westin Bldg.
Seattle, WA 98121

You can request visa information by telephone, but you cannot submit an application by fax. A signed application with photos must be delivered to the consulate.

Russian Consulate Telephones
206-728-1910 / Fax 206-728-1871

Russia issues tourist, business, home stay visitor and transit visas. Typical visas are for a single entry, but there are also double- and multiple-entry visas available, but these involve meeting additional requirements and cost more. Visa fees vary, depending on how quickly you need a visa and what kind of visa you need. The sooner you need it, the more it will cost. Allow plenty of time to avoid disappointment. In addition to the application fee to the Russian consulate, you can expect to pay a separate handling fee for an invitation from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Unless you go through a travel agency for a tourist visa, you will need an invitation from the Russian Foreign Ministry. This can be handled by your host or an intermediary such as the American Business Center in Sakhalin.

The Russian consulate processes the visa application after it receives the invitation/visit approval from the Russian Foreign Ministry branch where you are traveling. Because these two steps are intertwined, and visa applications may be returned if the consulate does not have supporting material from the Russian Foreign Ministry, it is important to coordinate these steps. It is also advisable to include a brief cover letter (on letterhead if this is an official or business visit) explaining the purpose and details of your trip and asking the consulate to hold your application pending arrival of the invitation approval from the Russian Foreign Ministry. If you are requesting -- and paying for -- speedy processing, this should be stressed in your cover letter.

Unless you allow for plenty of processing time, it is best to send the visa application by express mail or private delivery service such as Federal Express or DHL and include a paid return envelope. Do not send your passport, but only a photocopy of the details page.

Leading Exports – Alaska to Russia -- 2000

Total value: $9.6 million

Export Notes:

This does not include Alaska’s leading export: services

Alaska provides oil field services, environmental services, engineering, technical, transportation, tourism and other services to Russia, which are not counted in the value of commodities

Nearly all of Alaska goods and services go to the Russian Far East

Alaska exports in 2000 increased over 1999, when Russia was feeling the impacts of the August 1998 ruble crash and subsequent financial crisis. Alaska’s exports in 2000 were less than half the 1998 total and well below the post-Soviet annual average.

Leading Imports – Russia to Alaska

Crude oil

Crab

Used/rebuilt aircraft

Souvenirs, crafts, clothes, art, jewelry, etc.

Import Notes:

Oil imports to Alaska have made up for declining North Slope production that serves as feedstock for refinery. For example, in late 2000, a Russian tanker delivered Sakhalin crude oil to the Tesoro Alaska refinery in Kenai, allowing the Alaska facility to boost refining capacity. The refinery had been operating at below capacity and there were concerns about future operations. Russian essentially boosted feedstock supplies and helped preserve Alaska jobs at the refinery, which supplies the Alaska market.
 

Maritime shipping to the Russian Far East requires using circuitous routes or arranging dedicated charter service. Until recently, several West Coast / Pacific Northwest Ports offered direct RFE service on any of several different shipping lines. But in the wake of the August 1998 ruble devaluation and Russian financial crisis, U.S. exports to Russia dropped dramatically because U.S. goods suddenly became more expensive for Russian buyers. The decrease in RFE-bound cargo prompted shippers to curtail services to RFE ports. Over time, companies pursued various money-saving efficiency measures that involved RFE shipping cutbacks or consolidating routes, ports, freight and schedules. By summer 2001, market conditions brought an end to direct shipments between the West Coast and the Russian Far East. Some shippers left the market entirely. Others continued to serve the RFE via Asia. Some constricted operations to more regional Far East routes. As the RFE economy improves, increased shipments could lead to restoring some direct routes. But shipping will remain market-driven.

While Alaska has served as the aviation gateway for West Coast-RFE flights, the same has not been true of maritime shipping. RFE-bound cargo from Alaska has had to be shipped by air, by special maritime charter, via Asia or sent south for shipment from a port with a company serves, even indirectly, the RFE market.

Seattle and Tacoma have been homeports for vessels serving the RFE, often competing for business from RFE shipping companies. The end of direct service puts all western U.S. exporters at a disadvantage. RFE maritime shipments use scheduled trans-Pacific service must send goods to Asia, at the cost of additional shipping time through transshipment ports, in order to get goods to the RFE. Alternatively, exporters and shippers can charter vessels or consider more expensive airfreight. Some suppliers and exporters routinely turn their goods over to a shipping agent or freight forwarder to handle the burden of finding the best means of shipment.

RFE shipping is likely to remain in flux, subject to regional economic developments. But those involved in the import-export trade do get their goods to market. And although the conditions, routes, schedules and ports served have all been changing, many of the shipping companies remain the same, rolling with the waves of change. Companies in the RFE trade often provide inter-modal services and have operations out of multiple ports in North America and the Far East. A leading player in RFE shipping has been FESCO, still a key link in the shipping chain.

Russian Far East Shipping Companies

FESCO – Far East Shipping Co.

When FESCO suspended direct U.S. West Coast-RFE shipping in mid-2001, it was the last remaining direct shipper in a market where it was instrumental in U.S.-RFE shipping. FESCO’s suspension of direct RFE service marked the first time there has been no direct RFE trans-Pacific service since the advent of regularly scheduled RFE shipments. However, FESCO remains active on Pacific shipping routes linking Asia, the South Pacific and the West Coast. RFE-bound cargo from North America is now shipped via South Korea and requires one or more transshipment points to reach RFE ports as part of the FESCO America Russia Express Line or FAREX service outlined below. FESCO also has joint ventures with other shipper to facilitate Asia-RFE cargo deliveries.

FAREX – FESCO America Russia Express:

Seattle-Vladivostok shipments via Pusan (Busan), South Korea

All other Seattle-RFE cargo requires a second transshipment point via Vladivostok.

RFE ports served from Vladivostok: Korsakov (Sakhalin), Petropavlosvk-Kamchatsky (Kamchatka) and Magadan

FESCO vessels have been chartered for shipments to Chukotka.

North American offices: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vancouver, B.C.

RFE Offices: Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Magadan, Petropavlovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Korsakov

Info/contacts: http://www.fesco.com

Seattle: 206-583-0860 / Fax 206-583-0889

Other RFE Shipping Companies

During the 1990s, when direct, regular West Coast-RFE shipping was at its peak, several other companies also provided direct RFE service:

SASCO (Sakhalin Shipping Co.)
Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM)
Sunmar

In addition to the above-listed companies that remain active, despite suspending direct West Coast-RFE service, numerous companies provide regional shipping services (vessels, vessel brokerage, maritime agency services, etc.), including:

PRISCO – Primorsky Shipping Co.
Maersk SeaLand
Belsu Shipping Services
ERMA – Eastern Russian Maritime Agency
JNL – Japan -Nakhodka Line
KSDL – Korean Soviet Direct Line (FESCO + Hyundai)
MOL – Mitsui Ocean Lines
JTSL – Japan Trans-Siberian Line (FESCO + Mitsui)
FCDL – FESCO China Direct Line

Other shippers connect the RFE with Australia and South Asia and other points.

Alaska Connections

Maersk SeaLand operates a West Coast-Asia route that stops in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, en route to Japan, S. Korea and China (but not the RFE).

Crowley Maritime tugs have towed heavy cargo from Alaska to the RFE

Russian flag vessels, including tankers, have delivered cargo between Alaska and the RFE on an irregular charter basis.

Alaska summer coastal sea-lift/barge companies have expressed interest in serving the RFE directly with dedicated service, or warehousing shipments at a collection point such as Nome for shipment, or delivering goods to the RFE on their empty North-to-south back-haul.

Alaska-based inter-modal cargo companies and freight forwarders with RFE offices and experience, such as Lynden, can provide a range of services from shipping to customs brokerage to logistics.

RFE Seaports

Some ports are open only to Russian-flag vessels

Large southernmost RFE ports are ice-free year round. Magadan, Chukotka and other Arctic ports can be closed to all but ice-class vessels in winter and spring, usually January-June.

Russia plans to privatize (sell) about two dozen RFE/Arctic ports.

Some regions have small specialized ports developed for fisheries, timber, fuel or other industries in addition to their main commercial ports.

Virtually all RFE ports have experienced declines in recent years and are operating at below capacity.

Primorsky Krai / Vladivostok Region

Primary RFE destination for regional commercial shipments. Trans-Siberian railroad terminus and international connections, including plans for a so-called East-West Corridor shipping route with connections to Northern China via these RFE ports. This region, also known as Primorye, has three year-round deep-water all-purpose competing ports:

Vladivostok. City port in the regional capital. Closest to China, N. Korea.

Nakhodka. East of Vladivostok city, situated between ports of Vladivostok and Vostochny. Served as primary commercial port when Vladivostok was chiefly a naval port in Soviet times. Designated as a free economic zone, with business incentives, but port has been plagued by management problems.

Vostochny. East of Nakhodka. Largest RFE port. Vostochny and Nakhodka have traditionally been the busiest commercial ports.

Magadan Oblast

Magadan. Serves the capital, region and mining developments. Magadan regional administration wants to establish a Magadan Shipping Company to counter the declining shipments to Magadan by RFE shippers. Magadan intends to purchase a tanker, a container ship, tugs and bulk carriers, according Vostok Media, citing an announcement by Magadan Gov. Valentin Tsvetkov. Magadan administration plans $500,000 upgrade to fisheries port facilities.

Chukotka

Provideniya. Located at the end of a long fjord, this may well be the best natural deep-water port in the Russian northeast, but the infrastructure and equipment have deteriorated.

Anadyr. Capital.

Pevek. Chukotka’s chief northern port, on the East Siberian City. Bay could be the site of proposed floating nuclear power stations that may replace the only RFE nuclear plant in Bilibino in western Chukotka.

Goods have been shipped to other Chukotka coastal communities despite inadequate port facilities, often by lightering or barge.

Khabraovsk Krai

Vanino is the region’s main seaport, providing access to interior RFE points and to eastern Siberia via the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) railway, including access into the Sakha Republic, with additional branch line access planned.

Sovetskaya Gavan, south of Vanino, was developed primarily as a timber port

De Kastri, north of Vanino and across the Tatarsky Strait from Sakhalin, this is primarily an oil port for shipments from Sakhalin to the mainland

Sakhalin

Kholmsk, west of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on the west coast of Sakhalin, has a railroad-ferry connection to Vanino on the mainland.

Korsakov, on the southern tip of Sakhalin Island south of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, is the primary international port.

Nogliki in northeastern Sakhalin may seen future port development because of its proximity to the offshore oil and gas developments in the Sea of Okhotsk.

Sakhalin Oblast has a number of other smaller ports on Sakhalin Island and in the Kuril Islands archipelago.

Kamchatka

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

More info / Contacts

FESCO maintains the most substantial U.S. presence among the shippers serving the RFE. Many shippers, maritime agencies, port authorities, individual ports and government agencies can be contacted directly and also have information online. The most comprehensive overall RFE shipping site is the Transport Russia web site, which has many useful links and English translations for much of the material:

RFE Transport / Shipping Home Page: http://www.transrussia.net/english.asp

RFE Ports: http://www.transrussia.net/ports/port.asp

RFE Shipping Lines / Schedules: http://www.transrussia.net/Pages/Schedules/main.htm

RFE Transport Directory: http://www.transrussia.nert/rustrans/main.asp – from this global shipping main page, under "Russia" click on "Other" for a list of 215 companies, most of them RFE shippers, along with company contact info.

  What's New

  Alaska-RFE Time Difference

  Money/Exchange Rate

  Weather

  Calendar of Events

  Holidays Celebrated in RFE

  Alaska-RFE Facts

  Alaska-RFE Relations

  Alaska-Russia Timeline

The Ins & Outs and Ups & Downs of Getting from Here to There & Back

Alaska – U.S.-RFE Gateway

Alaska is the exclusive U.S. gateway for flights and cruises to the Russian Far East. Travelers bound for the RFE may journey around the world via Moscow or via Asia, but Alaska is the only American entry/exit point for direct U.S.-RFE travel.

Turbulence in Airline Schedules

Flights have connected Alaska and the RFE since the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s, but airlines have come and gone, schedules have been in flux, and Alaska-RFE aviation has had its ups and downs:

But despite fluctuations br

International Dateline Travel

Travelers flying from far eastern Russia to Alaska arrive before they leave – thanks to the International Dateline and time differences as great as 21 hours. Flights leaving Sunday evening arrive in Anchorage on Sunday morning. Leave Chukotka at noon and arrive in Nome the afternoon of the previous day. But travelers from Alaska to the RFE lose a day.

Some enterprising travel agencies and celebrants have devised ways to celebrate holidays twice – in the RFE and Alaska. For example, at the Millenium, on New Year’s Eve, some seriously adventuresome party-goers traveled from Alaska to the RFE and back to Alaska to finagle two celebrations out of a single holiday. They celebrated New Year’ Eve and New Year’s Day in the RFE, then flew across the International Dateline – back in time to celebrate the New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day again.

A Mix of Ancient Travel, Present Technology and Futuristic Science Fiction

Even as American and Russian Eskimos use walrus skin boats equipped with outboard motors to travel the short distance across the Bering Strait between Alaska and Chukotka, others dream of building a tunnel under the Bering Strait and connecting North America and Eurasia by rail.

Even if there were support for a tunnel – along with the estimated $50 billion that it would take to build it – there is no connecting infrastructure on either side. Railroads would have to undergo major extensions on both sides to connect to any tunnel.

Schedules, Routes, Connections, Airlines, Contacts

Current as of Nov. 1, 2001. As usual, schedules subject to change – especially to the RFE! Even scheduled flights can be unpredictable – always reconfirm. Visas are required for travel to Russia

Alaska – Russian Far East Flight Options

Direct non-stop / Direct one-stop / One-stop connecting:

Anchorage – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka

Mavial / Magadan Airlines: Direct, non-stop

Anchorage – Magadan

Mavial / Magadan Airlines: Direct, one stop

Anchorage – Khabarovsk

Anchorage – Vladivostok

Anchorage – Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin

Korean Air + SAT: One stop, via Seoul, change to connecting flight

Anchorage – Chukotka

Alaska Airlines + Bering Air: One stop, via Nome, change to connecting flight

Anchorage to Kamchatka / Magadan

Magadan / Kamchatka to Anchorage

Connecting flight: Kamchatka to Khabarovsk

Connecting flight: Khabarovsk to Kamchatka

Connecting flight: Kamchatka to Vladivostok

Connecting flight: Vladivostok to Kamchatka

Anchorage to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk via Seoul

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Anchorage via Seoul

NOTE: Korean Air flies non-stop Anchorage-Seoul 3 times a week; one flight connects to Sakhalin on SAT

Anchorage / Nome – Chukotka

NOTE: Bering Air flies frequent charters to Chukotka and sells available space on a per seat basis.

Additional Anchorage – Sakhalin Flight Options

Indirect Flights / Multiple Stops

Anchorage – Kamchatka – Khabarovsk – Sakhalin

Anchorage – Kamchatka – Vladivostok – Sakhalin

Anchorage – Seattle – Tokyo – Hakodate – Sakhalin

Anchorage – Seattle –Tokyo – Sapporo – Sakhalin

Anchorage – Moscow Flight Connections

Anchorage – Seattle – Moscow

Anchorage – New York – Moscow

Anchorage – Seoul – Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk – Moscow

Anchorage – Nome – Andyr – Moscow

Anchorage – Kamchatka – Moscow

Anchorage – Magadan – Moscow

Other Russian Destinations / Routes

• Yakutsk, Sakha Republic (Yakutia): via Moscow or Khabarovsk

• Irkutsk: via Moscow or Khabarovsk

• Ulan Ude: via Moscow or Irkutsk

• Moscow: daily flights to/from major European capitals

• Moscow has flights to cities throughout Russia

• Aeroflot and Domodedovo Airlines have most flights to RFE

• Many RFE destinations can be reached by train from Khabarovsk or Vladivostok

Special Alaska-RFE Flight Services

• Chartered passenger and cargo services available on Alaska and Russian carriers

• Freight forwarding services and customs brokerage available from Alaska companies

• Medevac services available from RFE to Alaska

• RFE courier service: http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/country/001113express.htm

    ALASKA – RFE AIRLINES DESTINATIONS / CONTACT INFORMATION

For flight information, contact airline directly or travel agent specializing in Russian Far East travel

Contact telephone numbers are in Alaska unless otherwise noted.

Mavial / Magadan Airlines

Scheduled service: Anchorage – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Magadan
Connections to: Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Moscow

Anchorage International Airport – North / International Terminal
907-248-2994 / Fax 907-248-2893
E-mail: magadanair@alaskalife.net

Bering Air

Charters: Nome, Alaska – Anadyr and Provideniya, Chukotka

Connections to Moscow via Anadyr on Domodedovo Airlines
Nome Office: P.O. Box 1650, Nome, AK 99762-1650
Russia Travel Desk: 907-443-5620
General Info: 907-443-5464 / Fax: 907-443-5919
Toll-free within Alaska: 1-800-478-5422
E-mail: info@beringair.com
Web site: http://www.beringair.com/services/russia.html

Korean Airlines

Scheduled service to Seoul for connecting flights to the Russian Far East

Anchorage Office:
Anchorage International Airport – North / International Terminal
907-243-3329 / Fax 907-243-1231
Toll-free passenger service: 1-800-438-5000
Toll-free cargo service: 1-888-888-4525
http://www.koreanair.com

Era Aviation

Anchorage Office:
907-248-4422 / Fax 907-248-8384
Web site: http://www.eraaviation.com

Alaska Airlines

Scheduled service to Nome for Bering Air flights to Chukotka. Frequent flights to Seattle for connections on Aeroflot flights to Moscow and flights to Asia and Europe. Service to Washington, D.C. and frequent flights to many West Coast cities. (Alaska Airlines formerly conducted scheduled service to the RFE but has discontinued direct RFE flights.)

Offices throughout Alaska and the West Coast states.
Toll-free passenger service: 1-800-252-7522 / 1-800-426-0333
Web site: http://www.alaskaair.com

Evergreen International Airlines

Evergreen has announced its intention to initiate service to Sakhalin in the first quarter 2002.

Global cargo carrier. Cargo service to RFE.

Anchorage Office:
907-243-8677
http://www.evergreenairlines.com

Aeroflot

Scheduled Seattle-Moscow service. Also: Moscow flights to/from San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. (Aeroflot previously flew West Coast-RFE routes, including Alaska, but these flights have been discontinued.)

Moscow-RFE

Seattle Office:
206-464-1005
http://www.aeroflot.com

Northwest Arctic Air

Charters to Sakhalin: Executive passenger service

Anchorage office:
907-245-4566 / Fax 907-245-4567
Toll-free 1-877-359-6922

Domodedovo

Moscow-RFE

SAT / Sakhalinye Aviatrassy (Sakhalin Airlines)

Connects Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with Korea, Japan and the RFE

Airports

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk International Airport

http://www.airport.sakhalin.ru/english

Cargo

Many of the airlines listed above deliver cargo to the RFE on a scheduled or charter basis. Additional Alaska shippers that can fly cargo to the RFE include the following:

Lynden Companies

Lynden Air Freight, Lynden Air Cargo, Lynden International,
Lynden Logistics, etc.
907-243-6150
http://www.lynden.com

Panalpina

907-245-8008 / Fax 907-245-8018
http://www.panalpina.com

FS Air Service

907-248-9595 / Fax 907-248-1247
Toll-free 1-800-478-9595
http://www.fsairserviceinc.com

Northern Air Cargo

907-243-3331 / 907-243-5193
Toll-free 1-800-727-2141
http://www.northernaircargo.com

 Travel Agencies Specializing in RFE travel

Although any travel agent can assist you with booking flights, it is recommended that you use a travel agency that specializes in RFE bookings

Circumpolar Expeditions

Winner 1997 Governor’s Exporter of the Year Award

Anchorage
Tandy Wallack, President
907-272-9299 / Fax 907-278-6092
tandy_wallack@arctictravel.net
http://www.arctictravel.net

International Travel Consultants

Anchorage
Yoshi Ogawa, President
907-561-7722 / Fax 907-561-3600
itcinc@alaska.net

Alaska – Russian Far East Adventure Cruises

More Alaska – RFE Itineraries in 2002

Alaska serves as the jumping off point for arctic and sub-arctic sea cruises that explore Alaska, the Russian Far East and the in-between regions on both sides of the International Dateline and the U.S.-Russian maritime boundary. These cruises make port calls in Alaska and the Russian Far East and conduct voyages through the Bering Sea, the Chukchi Sea, the Beaufort Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. Some vessels circumnavigate the Bering Strait and divide extended cruises into separate distinct itineraries. Voyages extend as far as a Northwest Passage journey and a trip beyond the RFE into Asia. Nearly all these voyages begin or end in Alaska and use Alaska as a primary staging ground for venturing into the RFE.

A handful of companies send their small cruise ships, usually carrying 75-150 people, on voyages in the waters between Alaska and the Russian Far East every summer. This is a far different kind of cruise than the large vessels that ply the Inside Passage of southeast Alaska. These smaller vessels cater to adventure tourists, eco-tourists, cultural tourists and those people driven to the frontiers of tourism. These cruises vary from year to year in this relatively young and evolving sector of the cruise industry. As the Russian Far East gradually opens to expanded tourism, this type of adventure cruise is certain to grow. In fact, the 2002 season is poised to be the most ambitious yet for Alaska-RFE cruises and itineraries.

These cruises give passengers an opportunity to see remote areas of Alaska and the Russian Far East that are off the usual tourist itineraries and often difficult or impossible to reach otherwise. Several companies have pioneered cruises in the Bering Strait and Bering Sea region along various itineraries over the past decade. But the area remains so remote, so isolated, so demanding and so far from the mass tourism and the floating city cruise ship scene that it is still very much an adventure experience. On-shore amenities and infrastructure may be limited while costs can be quite high. Nevertheless, the Bering Strait region offers a unique cruise experience.

Some cruise vessels may remain in the region for a series of separate itineraries with passengers joining or leaving the cruises by flights at designated cities in Alaska and the RFE. Various itineraries in the past have included Anchorage and points in Alaska ranging from the Aleutian Islands to the North Slope via southwestern coastal Alaska, the Seward Peninsula, the Pribilof Islands and the Bering Strait. In the Russian Far East, vessels have visited the Chukotka Peninsula, the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Vladivostok, and the Pacific Coast.

Itineraries, port calls, dates, prices, flights, start and finish points and other details vary from season to season and company to company. Check with the company or a travel agent. Companies offering Alaska-RFE itineraries in 2002 include the following:

CLIPPER CRUISES

Three cruises exploring the Bering Sea region of Alaska and the Russian Far East.

All trips start in Anchorage and last about two weeks.

From Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula

June

Anchorage – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky – Kamchatka Peninsula – Aleutian Island archipelago – Seward, Alaska – Anchorage

Bering Sea Expedition

August

Anchorage – Nome – Alaska’s Bering Sea Islands – Russia’s Komandorsky Islands – Kamchatka Peninsula – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka – Anchorage

Land of the Smoking Volcanoes

August

Anchorage – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka – Sakhalin, Kuril Islands – Japan – U.S.

More info / Contact

http://www.clippercruise.com

CRUISE WEST

13-17-day cruises exploring the Bering Sea region of Alaska of the Russia Far East

Voyages travel between Whittier, Prince William Sound, Alaska, and Anchorage

Voyage to the Bering Sea

June, August

Whittier – Kodiak – Homer – Dutch Harbor – Alaska’s Bering Sea Islands – Yanrakynnot, Chukotka – Nome – Anchorage

More info / Contact

http://www.cruisewest.com

NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES

One three-week Trans-North Pacific route

Northern Circle

September

Vancouver, B.C. – Dutch Harbor, Alaska – Sapporo, Japan – Vladivostok, Russia – Pusan, South Korea – Ngasaki, Japan – Beijing, China

More info / Contact

http://www.ncl.com

QUARK EXPEDITIONS

20-day journey Arctic voyage from Alaska to the Russian Far East to Canada, via the Bering Strait, the Chukchi Sea, the Beaufort Sea and the Northwest Passage

Northwest Passage

July-August

Anchorage – Anadyr – Chukotka Peninsula – Provideniya – Bering Strait – Chukchi Sea – Beaufort Sea – Northwest Passage – Resolute – Ottawa

More info / Contact

http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/arctic

SOCIETY EXPEDITIONS

Four itineraries, 19-20 days – Remote Alaska and the Russian Far East:

Spring Bird Migration Voyage

June-July

Japan – Kuril Islands – Kamchatka Peninsula – Aleutian Islands – Pribilof Islands – St. Lawrence Island – Nome

Bridging the Bering Strait

June / July

Anchorage – Nome – Bering Strait – Chukotka Peninsula – St. Lawrence Island – Pribilof Islands – Aleutian Islands – Alaska Peninsula – Kenai Fjords – Prince William Sound – Whittier

Beringia

July-August

Anchorage – Nome – Bering Strait – Chukotka Peninsula – Aleutian Islands – Pribilof Islands – Nome

Around the Ring of Fire

August

Anchorage – St. Lawrence Island – Pribilof Islands – Aleutian Islands – Kamchatka Peninsula – Kuril Islands – Japan

More info / Contact

http://www.societyexpeditions.com/Html/Voyages/AK/Alaska_Cruises.html