Record-Low Danube Water Levels Leave Boats Beached, Reveal Decades-Old Shipwrecks

Dozens of boats successful a marina successful Serbia’s bluish metropolis of Novi Sad floated successful a greenish slurry — each that remained aft the waters of the Danube receded by respective 100 meters, portion barges were moored successful the deeper sections of the river.

Danube levels fell to grounds lows this week successful Croatia and Serbia, exposing hundreds of quadrate kilometers of soil banks, pursuing the summer’s prolonged heatwaves and drought that person affected waterways crossed Europe.

Serbia’s substance imports fell to 25% of their monthly people for July arsenic debased Danube h2o levels forced barges and tankers to run astatine 30% to 40% of their cargo capacity, Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said connected Wednesday.

In Serbia, debased h2o levels successful the Danube and the navigable rivers Tisa and Sava besides hampered fisheries and tourism, portion experts warned of semipermanent effects connected wildlife. Vladimir Stakic, steadfast of Serbia’s Angling Magazine, said clime alteration is to blame.

“(Because of) the deficiency of rainfall and an summation successful temperatures owed to clime change, we person much evaporation and … we person highly low, worryingly debased h2o levels,” Stakic said, lasting connected adust rocks that would usually beryllium heavy astatine the bottommost of the Sava River successful Belgrade.

Low h2o levels successful Croatia exposed a freight vessel that sank successful 1937. In eastbound Serbia, rusty hulks of a German stream flotilla scuttled successful 1944 emerged from the Danube, endangering navigation.

In Belgrade, a edifice proprietor placed a array and chairs connected a heap of rocks that emerged successful the mediate of the river.

Serbia’s hydrometeorological section forecasted a minimal emergence successful the Danube successful the coming days owed to rainfall upstream.

(Reporting by Branko Filipovic and Antonio Bronic; penning by Aleksandar Vasovic; editing by David Gaffen)

Photograph: A ferry navigates connected the Danube River arsenic usually submerged areas are exposed owed to utmost debased levels of the h2o pursuing an extended play of drought successful Chiciu, confederate Romania, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolae Dumitrache)

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