A historic boat emerges in Serbia as Europe’s rivers run dry from drought and heat

A historic boat emerges in Serbia as Europe’s rivers run dry from Drought and Heat 0 seconds of 1 minute, 33 secondsVolume 0% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up How the UK's wildlife is coping, and helping, with the Drought 01:42 00:00 01:33 01:33 More Videos 01:42 How the UK's wildlife is coping, and helping, with the Drought 00:42 Michelle Rodriguez lays out her wishlist for 'Fast Forever' 01:41 Director of Emmy-nominated Diddy doc says the series' detailed timeline made it "fresh" 01:13 Preserving China’s imperial cuisine, one dish at a time 01:08 Hayden Panettiere, star of 'Heroes' and 'Nashville,' dies at 36 01:13 Trump threatens Oman as it works with Iran on a Strait of Hormuz deal 00:21 Trump says record-setting Navy deployment to support Iran operations 'not nearly long enough' 01:06 Iran war risks education of children in Cambodia Close 1 of 6 | A historic steam tugboat known as The Slovenian has emerged from the Sava River near Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia, as prolonged Heat and Drought cause Europe’s rivers to reach record-low levels (AP video shot by: Marko Drobnjakovic). 2 of 6 | The wreckage of an old steam boat, known as The Slovenian, is visible due to the low level of the Sava River near the town of Sremska Mitrovica, northwest of the capital Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) 3 of 6 | The wreckage of an old steam boat, known as The Slovenian, is visible due to the low level of the Sava River near the town of Sremska Mitrovica, northwest of the capital Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) 4 of 6 | The wreckage of an old steam boat, known as The Slovenian, is visible due to the low level of the Sava River near the town of Sremska Mitrovica, northwest of the capital Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) 5 of 6 | Stanislav Kozenko stands on the wreckage of an old steam boat, known as The Slovenian, as it is visible due to the low level of the Sava River near the town of Sremska Mitrovica, northwest of the capital Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) 6 of 6 | Stanislav Kozenko stands on the wreckage of an old steam boat, known as The Slovenian, as it is visible due to the low level of the Sava River near the town of Sremska Mitrovica, northwest of the capital Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) By Marko Drobnjakovic and JOVANA GEC Updated 7:07 AM MESZ, August 20, 2026 Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia (AP) — The wreck of a steam tugboat dating from the early 1900s is the latest relic to emerge from shrinking waters in Serbia as Europe’s rivers run dry, with the continent engulfed in prolonged, extreme Heat and Drought. The rusting hull — once a famed vessel known as The Slovenian — surfaced earlier this month from the Sava River near the Serbian town of Sremska Mitrovica, 70 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of the capital of Belgrade. While parts have appeared above the surface before, the locals say the wreck 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, who is the head of the town museum. “It’s truly something you don’t see every day,” he added about the boat, which has been dubbed “Sava’s Titanic” by Serbian media. Warships, mammoth bones and parts of ancient constructions all have emerged from the slumping waters of the Danube, the Rhine and other rivers in the scorching Drought that has also disrupted trade, power and water supplies. A record-low Danube River has severely impacted nuclear power plants in Hungary and Romania and halted traffic along Europe’s second-largest waterway. A monthslong Drought has ravaged crops from the Netherlands to Bosnia and caused water shortages that extend as high as the Alps. According to Popovic, The Slovenian was made in 1913 in a shipyard in Budapest, Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It measured roughly 54 meters (177 feet) in length and was initially named Vag, which is Hungarian for Slovakia’s longest river, Vah. With a steam engine, the boat pulled heavy cargo between Budapest and other towns along the Danube. Record-low Danube River affects tourism and industry as Drought and Heat grip Central Europe 3 MIN READ Serbia races to contain wildfires as Europe’s blistering Heat wave grips the Balkans 2 MIN READ Record low Danube levels push some countries in Eastern Europe to the brink of energy emergency 2 MIN READ During World War I, the boat largely paused its routes, Popovic added. As the war ended and the Austro-Hungarian empire was dismantled, the boat’s ownership switched to the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians — which would later become Yugoslavia — as part of war reparations, he said. “This is when it was renamed The Slovenian,” Popovic said, adding that it’s a mystery “why this name was chosen.” Then, during World War II, The Slovenian — and its new country — came under Nazi German occupation. After Yugoslav anti-fascist forces liberated Belgrade in 1944, they used the boat to transfer the wounded and equipment while pushing German troops further west, Popovic said. The boat was carrying wounded fighters when it hit a German mine in late April 1945, Popovic said. “It sank and has stayed in the same place since that day.” A shrinking Danube surrenders German ships and mammoth bones The Slovenian is not the only relic that has emerged from Europe’s drying rivers. On Serbia’s eastern border with Romania, rusty remains of German ships are sticking out from the slumped Danube waters. Some still laden with weapons, the ships belonged to Nazi Germany’s Black Sea fleet that was deliberately sunk near the end of the war as German troops retreated from Romania and Soviet forces advanced deeper into Europe. In Italy, the worst Drought in 70 years has exposed the piers of an ancient bridge over the Tiber River once used by Roman emperors but which fell into disrepair by the third century. As the Danube waters shrank in Bulgaria, researchers were thrilled to find and recover a jawbone, tusks, a shoulder blade, ribs and other bone fragments belonging to an extinct woolly mammoth buried deep in the sand. Experts seek ways to prepare for more extreme weather Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Half of the European Union and the United Kingdom was experiencing Drought by late July 2026, according to the EU’s European Drought Observatory, with 9% of the territory at the most severe “alert” level. Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of Heat and dryness. Serbian hydrology expert Dejan Vladikovic said the current Drought is the combination of a lack of winter snow and a very dry spring. “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.” Even the mountains are suffering. In The Slovenian Alps, lodges that depend on rainwater have restricted the use of water for climbers and hikers, including for showers and toilets. The Triglav Lodge, Slovenia’s highest-altitude guest hut at an elevation of 2,515 meters (8,251 feet), is using paper plates this summer to save water on dishes.