Danube River Drought Halts Shipping and Exposes Explosive World War II German Warships

Record-low water levels on the Danube River caused by intense drought across Central and Eastern Europe have crippled commercial shipping and pushed power plants toward shutdown, exposing dozens of explosive-laden World War II German warships along the Serbian border.

The drying waterway—Europe’s second-longest river and a key transport corridor spanning 10 nations—has forced regional governments to prepare electricity conservation measures as high temperatures and reduced flow strain power generation and infrastructure.

Near the Serbian port of Prahovo, where the Danube forms a natural border with Romania, shallow channels and emerging riverbed hazards have brought heavy cargo transport to a standstill.

“As you can see, the (big) ships can’t pass anymore,” said Prahovo resident Krsta Brandic, describing the halted river traffic along the gorge.

The receding waters have laid bare the rusted hulls and broken masts of Nazi Germany’s Black Sea fleet, scuttled in September 1944. Nazi forces intentionally sank up to 200 warships near Prahovo in a failed attempt to block advancing Soviet troops near the end of the war, months before Germany’s surrender in May 1945.

While Yugoslav authorities removed some wrecks after the war, dozens remained stranded on the riverbed due to the danger posed by tons of unexploded ammunition and weapons left inside their holds. The hulks narrow the river’s navigable channel, forcing vessels to navigate around volatile military remains that now sit exposed.

The crisis has amplified pressure on the Serbian government and the European Union, which have committed financial backing to clear the explosive-laden vessels and restore safe navigation along the lower stretches of the Danube River.