Drought Reveals 1913 Steamboat in Serbia's Sava River

A steamboat that sank in 1945 has emerged from the Sava River in Serbia, a stark visual of the drought gripping Europe. The vessel, known as The Slovenian, is now visible near the town of Sremska Mitrovica, northwest of Belgrade, with locals noting it has never been so exposed.

Stanislav Kozenko, a 70-year-old local fisherman, remembers the boat from his youth. "This is the first time that people are referring to this boat as the 'Titanic of the Sava'," he said, recalling it as a popular swimming spot. "Fast, shallow and cold water is what made it great for swimming... And this ship marked that time of our youth and childhood."

Andrija Popovic, a historian and head of the Museum of Srem, explained the boat's long history. Built in 1913 at a shipyard in Budapest, then part of Austria-Hungary, it was originally named The Vah, after a Slovakian river. It served as a powerful tugboat on the Danube. After World War I, it became part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians as war reparations and was renamed The Slovenian.

During World War II, the boat came under German occupation. After Belgrade's liberation in 1944, Yugoslav forces used it to transport the wounded and equipment. It sank the following year.

Popovic noted the boat's appeal lies in its untouched state. "It's attractive because it's in what archaeologists call 'in situ' condition... it's not preserved, it's not a museum piece," he said. "When the water levels are low, the ship appears, and that is a residential area, with many holiday homes as well, so it has become a popular spot."

The boat's emergence is a symptom of a wider crisis. Dejan Vladikovic, a hydrologist at the Serbian Hydrometeorological Institute, attributes the low water levels to a severe lack of precipitation across Central Europe since March. This deficit has drastically affected rivers, especially the Danube.

Vladikovic warned that such extremes will become more frequent. "In a year, we could have very low water levels, but by the end of that year, we could have major surges... and flash floods," he said. "We are entering periods of time when this will, unfortunately, become a new normalcy."

The drought has also revealed other relics, including German warships on Serbia's eastern border and mammoth bones in Bulgaria, as Europe contends with its fastest-warming continent status.