* The ship master or a person substituting for him on a bridge watch must know the signals that are employed by icebreakers during leading through ice and presented in the Guide to Navigation.
* Radiomen must know the rules of radio communications in the Arctic.
* The crew of the vessel must be forewarned concerning prohibitions against discharging pollutant substances and rubbish on the NSR as well as responsibility for any pollution of the sea and ice cover.
Other
* The ship must be furnished with the requisite maps published by the Russian government.
* As insurance against pollution damage, the Regulations state that "vessels will not be permitted to navigate the NSR if they do not have aboard a certificate of due financial security with respect to the civil liability of the owner for damage inflicted by polluting marine environment and the northern coast of Russia." In practice this means that all ships must be sufficiently insured.
4.3.5 Control of Ship Routes and Selection of Routes
The operations of the vessel in the NSR are stipulated in the "Regulations for Icebreaker and Pilot Guiding of Vessels through the Northern Sea Route." The gist of the main rules is provided below. Ships traveling the NSR are obliged to follow the instructions of the competent MOH.
* The ship is obliged to follow the route indicated by the MOH.
* Ships traveling the NSR west of 125｡? are guided and controlled by the West MOH, while ships traveling the NSR east of 125｡? are guided and controlled by the East MOH.
* Guide services are divided into several levels according to the judgment of the MOH, taking the ice conditions into account: Guiding from the shore along recommended routes up to a certain geographic point; guiding by airplane or helicopter; conventional pilotage; icebreaker guiding; and icebreaker guiding combined with conventional pilotage of vessels. Note that according to the Regulations, guidance is not always provided by an icebreaker. In the four straits of Vilkitskiy Strait, Shokalskiy Strait, Dmitry Laptev Strait and Sannikov Strait, guiding by icebreaker is required if ice conditions are deemed to endanger the safety of the ship. In the straits of Proliv Vil'kitskogo, Proliv Shokal'skogo, Proliv Dmitriya Lapteva and Proliv Sannikova, icebreaker guiding of vessels with an ice pilot on board each guided vessel is mandatory due to unfavorable navigational conditions.
* MSC provides icebreakers for the Arctic West Region, up to the meridian 125｡?, and FESCO provides icebreakers for the Arctic East Region, east of the meridian 125｡?.
* Ship owners or masters must notify the MOH of the date and time of their entry into the NSR in advance.
* Mode of operations, independent or in convoy, is determined according to the judgment of the MOH.
* When a convoy is formed, the convoy is under the command of the guiding icebreaker.
* Any attempt by a vessel's command to avoid the type of guidance assigned by the MOH is considered a violation of section 7 of the Regulation, and in accordance with section 10 of the Rules entails the removal of the vessel from the Route. All expenses associated with the removal of the vessel are borne by the vessel's shipowners.
* The MOH indicates the most favorable route to the meeting point with an icebreaker, taking into account the current ice conditions.
* The ship must notify the MOH of its position twice a day.
* The instructions of the MOH follow Russia's sea maps and other marine publications. The traveling ship must therefore be in possession of said Russian maps and all revisions thereto.
