Borrowed from www.zimbio.com
Unconfirmed rumours, source unknown..
Norwegian cruise company Hurtigruten announced that a shuttle ferry will soon start going between Kirkenes and Murmansk. It will be used for one-day tours, mostly for Norwegian tourists. This ferry is to go to Pechenga soon too.
The beauty of the arrangement is that foreigners who enter Russia on ships and ferries and stay here under 72 hours don’t need a visa. Normally you need to be on a big ship. Here you can hop on the ferry, be Pechenga in three hours, and you are in Russia for three days without any visa hassles!
re: Hurtigruten, 72 hours Russian visa free trips Kirkenes-Murmansk-Kirkenes.
Wow! That is very interesting news if you can visit Russia for 72 hours, by ship, without a Russian visa, from Kirkenes. That would be perfect.
Because the tourist visa is very expensive $300.00 USD, with overnight registered mail both ways to a Russian consulate or visa service. And you have to memorize and list all of your trips to Russia in the last ten years! So, it’s a huge hassle to apply for the 30 days tourist visa.
Please note “unconfirmed, source unknown”.