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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.
俄國人將貨運價格降低了40%，他們怎么能承擔(dān)如此大幅度削價所造成的損失呢?這是因為蘇聯(lián)的商船不一定要努力去賺取我們所理解的那種利潤。對于俄國商船來說，最重要的目標(biāo)是獲取硬通貨。
The Soviet Union is becoming more dependent on Western imports -from grain to technology-but the West will not accept roubles in payment.
蘇聯(lián)現(xiàn)在越來越離不開西方的進(jìn)口貨物--從糧食到技術(shù)--但西方國家不會接受以盧布付款。
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，俄國需要像美元、德國馬克或日元，甚至包括英鎊這樣的硬通貨來支付進(jìn)口貨物的貨款。
It does not matter very much if they are operating at a loss; that can be made up by the Soviet government in roubles.
蘇聯(lián)商船打入國際貿(mào)易市場就是為了賺取這些硬通貨。對他們來說，即使是賠本經(jīng)營也無關(guān)緊要，他們的虧空可以由蘇聯(lián)政府用盧布來補(bǔ)償。
But there is more to it than that for the Russians.
但蘇聯(lián)的目的還不止于此。
The Soviet mercantile marine obviously acts as a support to the Soviet navy, very much as Western fleets used to do.
蘇聯(lián)的商船隊顯然還充當(dāng)著其海軍的后備軍的角色，這有點類似于從前的西方商船隊，
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.
但兩者之間又存在著重大的差別。蘇聯(lián)商船隊在經(jīng)過近20年來的發(fā)展壯大后現(xiàn)已擁有各種船只，能使蘇聯(lián)將其勢力擴(kuò)張到遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出其國境線以外的地區(qū)。
For example, much of the heavy equipment for the Cubans and Angolans was brought in Soviet merchant ships.
比如，提供給古巴和安哥拉的重型裝備有許多就是由蘇聯(lián)商船運輸?shù)摹?/div>
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，蘇聯(lián)商船隊如今所具有的運輸能力大大加強(qiáng)了蘇聯(lián)在本土以外進(jìn)行遠(yuǎn)距離勢力擴(kuò)張的能力。
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.
這也是蘇聯(lián)所執(zhí)行的一項海洋地理勘測總體規(guī)劃的一個組成部分，這個總體規(guī)劃的內(nèi)容包括勘測世界各大海洋，偵察世界各港口，而更重要的是，加深同那些與蘇聯(lián)有著密切的貿(mào)易關(guān)系的國家之間的聯(lián)系。
