The wreck of a steamship built more than 100 years ago in the Austro-Hungarian Empire has surfaced from the Sava River in Serbia after a prolonged drought pushed water levels to record lows.
Locals could be seen touring the wreck and picnicking, with some even walking on parts of the river around it due to the low water levels.
The steam tug was built in Budapest in 1913 under the name “Vag”. It was later renamed “Slovenac”, and the ill-fated ship had a turbulent history – it sank three times during World War II. After being captured and used by Nazi Germany, the ship sank in 1944, explains history professor Aleksandar Životi.
It was soon recovered by rival Yugoslav forces, but sank again shortly afterwards. The ship was pulled out of the river once again and served the Yugoslav troops until the last weeks of the war, when it hit a mine and sank for the last time.
Životi says that parts of the ship often turn up when the water level is low, but that this year’s extreme drought has revealed more wreckage than ever before, including parts of the ship’s interior.
An extremely hot and dry summer left a large part of Central Europe affected by a record drought. River levels have dropped to extremely low levels, revealing shipwrecks, rubble and even unexploded bombs.
