The Danube River’s water levels have fallen, causing dozens of World War II German battleships to rise to the surface. This is one among the effects of the worst drought that Europe has seen in decades, which has also burnt farms and impeded river commerce.
A rusty hull, a broken mast where the swastika flag once flew, an upper deck where a command bridge once stood, and a barrel that may have been holding fuel or even explosive materials lean on a pebblestone dune that has emerged from the water in the middle of the large river separating Serbia and Romania close to the Serbian port of Prahovo.
The ships belonged to Nazi Germany’s Black Sea navy, some of which were still carrying ammunition, and were purposefully destroyed by the Germans as they withdrew from Romania and Soviet troops approached.
In order to increase the Danube’s capacity for commerce, the European Union and the European Investment Bank have now decided to provide loans and grants to support the operation to remove some of the boats near Prahovo. 30 million euros ($30 million) is the expected total cost of the operation, of which 16 million are grants.
Emanuele Giaufret, the EU ambassador to Serbia, said during a recent visit to the wreckage site, “These boats have been sunk and they have been lying on the river bank ever since.” “And that’s a difficulty. The Danube trade is affected, the flow is constrained, and there is a risk since some ships still have explosive munitions on board.”
Alessandro Bragonzi, the regional director of the European Investment Bank for the Western Balkans, accompanied Giaufret. He said that 21 sunken boats would be removed as part of the endeavor.
Up to 40 other boats are thought to remain submerged, but just 21 are now obstructing the Danube’s fairway, particularly during times of low water, according to Bragonzi.
Scientists attribute global warming and other elements, as well as this summer’s extremely hot weather, to the continent of Europe. The Danube, Europe’s second-longest river that runs through ten countries, was among the numerous rivers on the continent where navigation became hazardous due to the declining water levels. Dredging has been employed by Serbian authorities to keep ships going.
Although the wreckage rising from the water are a striking sight, they have been a source of frustration for river users for many years. With funding from the EU, the Serbian government is now seeking to address this issue.
Instead of towing the ships out of the river, experts believe the recovery effort will include extracting the explosive chemicals from the sunken warships and then destroying the wreckage.
According to historians, the fleet commander ordered the scuttling of up to 200 German vessels in September 1944 when they came under severe Soviet fire at Prahovo in the Danube canyon known as The Iron Gate. The purpose of the intentional sinking was to at the very least impede the Soviet advance in the Balkans. But when Nazi Germany finally capitulated in May 1945, it didn’t help.
Right after the war, the Communist Yugoslav government cleared several of the wreckage from the river. But the majority of them stayed, which made transportation difficult, particularly in the summer when water levels are low. Plans to remove the ships from the murky waters had been in place for years, but due to the explosives they were carrying and the lack of funding, the operation was deemed too hazardous.