A Short History on Ice Expeditions in the Russian Federation

In the field of ice expeditions, we have three main branches of activity where people go to test, observe, measure and map the ice conditions or performance of certain ship. The practices for conducting such exercise are different depending on the country and region. To organize an expedition or ship testing trip in the Russian Federation and former Soviet Union has always been a challenge. Preparations and planning needs to be started well in advance for getting the permits, and even then when you have all the paperwork done you cannot be sure that the expedition will come true. You need to cross the border to Russia and it may happen that you and the customs officer do not come along in a perfect way. This paper will tell the story of how things should or should not be arranged in the changing legislative atmosphere of Russian Federation. Russian Federation is here only as one example as similar practices can be found also elsewhere on this globe.