A historic boat emerges in Serbia as Europe's rivers run dry from drought and heat
- On Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, the rusting hull of The Slovenian steam tugboat emerged from the Sava River near Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia, as low water levels exposed the vessel for the first time in years.
- Built in 1913 in Budapest, Hungary, the roughly 54-meter vessel served the Austro-Hungarian empire before sinking during World War II while carrying wounded fighters near the war's end.
- Historian Andrija Popovic, head of the town museum, said locals dubbed the boat "Sava's Titanic," noting "it's truly something you don't see every day." The wreck sits 70 kilometers northwest of Belgrade.
- Scorching drought across Europe has forced other relics to surface: Nazi warships in the Danube and ancient Roman bridge piers in Italy's Tiber River, disrupting regional trade and power supplies.
- Serbian hydrology expert Dejan Vladikovic attributed the drought to lack of winter snow and dry spring conditions, warning, "We are entering periods when this will, unfortunately, become a new normalcy.
21 Articles
21 Articles
Europe's rivers run dry, and history resurfaces: Century-old shipwreck emerges in Serbia's drought
Extreme heat and drought are causing European rivers to recede. A steam tugboat from the early 1900s has emerged from the Sava River. This vessel, known as the Slovenian, sank during World War II. Other historical items like German warships and mammoth bones have also surfaced. Experts warn these extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common.
The Toronto Star
A historic boat emerges in Serbia as Europe’s rivers run dry from drought and heat
SREMSKA MITROVICA, Serbia (AP) — The wreck of a steam tugboat dating from the early 1900s is the latest relic to emerge from shrinking waters in Serbia as Europe's rivers run dry, with the continent engulfed in prolonged, extreme heat…
Associated Press News
A historic boat emerges in Serbia as Europe's rivers run dry from drought and heat
The wreck of a steam tugboat from the early 1900s has emerged from shrinking waters in Serbia. The vessel, known as the Slovenian, surfaced from the Sava River near Sremska Mitrovica, northwest of Belgrade.
Ruined coke, which once belonged to a famous ship known as ‘Slovenia', surfaced at the beginning of this month in the Sava River, a tributary of the Danube, near Serbian town Sremska Mitrovica, located 70 kilometers northwest of Belgrade, according to Associated Press. Although parts of the wreck have come out to the surface and in the past, locals say that the wreck was never so visible. "A few years have passed since it was last seen, so there…
The remains of a steam tugboat from the beginning of the 20th century are the most recent relic emerging from the dwindling waters in Serbia, while the rivers of Europe dry and the continent suffers from extreme heat and persistent drought.
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