Severe Drought Exposes Historic Shipwrecks Along the Danube River
Low water levels forced barges to run at 30% to 40% capacity and cut Serbia’s July fuel imports to 25% of target, officials said.
- The Danube River reached its lowest recorded levels this week in Serbia and Croatia, exposing sandy riverbanks and decades-old shipwrecks. Authorities described the drought as one of the most severe events affecting regional waterways in recent years.
- Vladimir Stakic, publisher of Serbia's Angling Magazine, blamed climate change for the extreme conditions. Water levels in Novi Sad, Serbia, dropped from around 5.9 feet on June 18 to a low of around-1.45 feet by July 20.
- Fuel imports fell to 25% of their monthly target, Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic reported on Wednesday. Low water levels forced barges and tankers to operate at only 30% to 40% of their cargo capacity.
- Receding waters revealed vessels including the Hungarian cargo ship Fulton, which sank in 1937, and a German river fleet scuttled during the Second World War. These rusty hulks now endanger navigation in eastern Serbia.
- Researchers are considering how underwater cultural heritage can be preserved, as climate-related threats like rising temperatures trigger degradation. UNESCO defines such heritage as traces of human existence submerged for at least 100 years.
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Hungarian Conservative
ussanews.comWorld War II Shipwreck, Other Artefacts Found in Shallow Danube
The water level of the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary, reached a record low of 33 centimetres (13 inches) in October 2018. It is now once again approaching that historic low, with the Budapest water gauge fluctuating between 47 and 48 centimetres (18.5–19 inches) on Friday, 24 July. The unusually low water level has revealed several fascinating artefacts in recent years that had remained hidden beneath the Danube’s surface for decades. Near t…
Authorities report a possible record low level for Budapest; cargo shipping is only limited on several river sections.
Apocalyptic images come from Giurgiu County, on the Danube. In some areas, water has retreated so much that you can see the islands. The effects are already dramatic: the tourist port of Corabia has been closed, navigation is affected, and the authorities have imposed restrictions on irrigation. Farmers are desperate, and hydrologists warn that the flow will continue to decline.
Record-low Danube water levels in Serbia, Croatia leave boats beached ...
An old wreck over 80 years old came to the surface because of the drought on the Danube. The ship sank in 1937 near the village of Opatovac, Croatia.
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