NOVI SAD, July 24 (Reuters) – Dozens of boats in a marina in Serbia’s northern city of Novi Sad floated in a green slurry — all that remained after the waters of the Danube receded by several hundred meters, while barges were moored in the deeper sections of the river.
Danube levels fell to record lows this week in Croatia and Serbia, exposing hundreds of square kilometers of sand banks, following the summer’s prolonged heatwaves and drought that have affected waterways across Europe.
Serbia’s fuel imports fell to 25% of their monthly target for July as low Danube water levels forced barges and tankers to operate at 30% to 40% of their cargo capacity, Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Wednesday.
In Serbia, low water levels in the Danube and the navigable rivers Tisa and Sava also hampered fisheries and tourism, while experts warned of long-term effects on wildlife. Vladimir Stakic, publisher of Serbia’s Angling Magazine, said climate change is to blame.
“(Because of) the lack of rain and an increase in temperatures due to climate change, we have more evaporation and … we have extremely low, worryingly low water levels,” Stakic said, standing on dry rocks that would normally be deep at the bottom of the Sava River in Belgrade.
Low water levels in Croatia exposed a freight ship that sank in 1937. In eastern Serbia, rusty hulks of a German river flotilla scuttled in 1944 emerged from the Danube, endangering navigation.
In Belgrade, a restaurant owner placed a table and chairs on a pile of rocks that emerged in the middle of the river.
Serbia’s hydrometeorological department forecasted a minimal rise in the Danube in the coming days due to rainfall upstream.
(Reporting by Branko Filipovic and Antonio Bronic; Writing by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by David Gaffen)
