About eight decades ago, the Germans sank around 80 ships to prevent the Russian river fleet from passing through the Danube. Two days ago, near Prahovo, one such ship was pulled out, and explosives were found on it.
The Nazi ship, which belonged to the Danube and Black Sea fleet of the Kriegsmarine, was pulled from the Danube, and the plan is to retrieve more than 20 German military vessels in the coming months.
These ships have been in the river for about 80 years, having been sunk in 1944. Along with the ship, explosives, and weapons were also retrieved two days ago.
“Every ship that is extracted undergoes a thorough inspection with the dismantling of any remaining explosives. This process takes about ten days,” said Goran Vesic, Serbia’s Minister of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure.
He recalled that in 1944, the Nazis sank nearly 200 ships, and the Red Army removed some to clear the waterway.
“The Red Army removed ships to clear the passage and to make some navigable for their river fleet, which was needed to finish the war. Since then, almost eight decades have passed without any work on retrieving the German Nazi river fleet,” Vesic emphasized.
According to him, when this process is completed, the public will be able to see part of the sunken Nazi fleet, which has been hindering navigation on this part of the Danube for 80 years.