"Sava’s Titanic" emerges as Europe’s rivers shrink under extreme heat

A steam tugboat dating back to the early 20th century has emerged from the shrinking Sava River in Serbia, offering a striking reminder of Europe’s worsening heat and drought, Associated Press reports.

The rusting wreck, known as the Slovenian, surfaced earlier this month near Sremska Mitrovica, about 70 kilometres northwest of Belgrade. Although parts of the vessel have appeared above the water before, locals say it has never been so exposed.

“It’s been several years since it was last seen, so there is quite an interest,” said historian Andrija Popovic, head of the town museum. “It’s truly something you don’t see every day,” he added. Serbian media have dubbed the wreck “Sava’s Titanic.”

Built in Budapest in 1913, the 54-metre vessel was originally named Vag and carried heavy cargo along the Danube. It was renamed Slovenian after ownership passed to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians following World War I.

During World War II, the boat was used to transport wounded fighters and equipment. It struck a German mine in April 1945 while carrying wounded personnel and sank at its present location.

The Slovenian is among numerous relics exposed by Europe’s receding waterways. Rusting German warships have emerged from the Danube near Serbia’s border with Romania, while drought in Italy has revealed remnants of an ancient Roman bridge over the Tiber. In Bulgaria, falling Danube levels exposed the remains of a woolly mammoth.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures rising roughly twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s.

Serbian hydrology expert Dejan Vladikovic warned that such conditions could become increasingly common.

“What awaits us in the future ... is that such situations will be more frequent,” he said. “We are entering periods when this will, unfortunately, become a new normalcy.”

By Vafa Guliyeva