On September 6, 1944, the Nazi army, pursued by the Red Army, scuttled hundreds of ships in the Danube. 80 years later, the fleet is about to resurface from the waters – to the great dismay of Serbian fishermen who have been casting their nets there for decades.
Nazi Germany, which had invaded the Balkans in 1941, found itself pinned down by the Soviet advance in the fall of 1944. In an attempt to slow the Red Army’s advance on the Danube and prevent their ships from falling into enemy hands, the Germans decided to sink their own fleet near the Iron Gates, a gorge on the Danube on the eastern edge of Serbia.
The operation, called “Danube Elf”, will last two days.
“The Germans were retreating in the face of the Red Army. They hoped to pass through the Djerdap Gorges [un peu plus au nord, ndlr]but when they realized that it would be impossible, they decided to sink their ships,” says Miki Trailovic, a historian of the region. According to him, more than 200 ships including barges and torpedo boats were sent to the bottom.
After the war, the Yugoslav army decided to leave the wrecks at the bottom of the river. They would remain there for 80 years, forcing captains and freshwater sailors to maneuver with caution on this portion of the Danube.
“They have to be particularly careful and it’s not uncommon to see groundings,” says Damir Vladic, the head of the port of Prahovo, a few hundred metres downstream. “It’s enough to deviate very slightly from the route for problems to arise.”
The presence of ships reduces the navigable width of the Danube from 180 to 80 meters at this busy point, where more than 1,000 tons of goods passed through in 2023, according to Serbian government data. And accidents are not uncommon.
In just a few hours at the end of August, when the Danube was particularly low, two cargo ships ran into the wrecks, AFP was able to observe.
– Danger –
“Every year, we see them as soon as the water level drops,” Igor Skundric told AFP, keeping an eye on the river from his boat.
For decades, this fisherman has relied on wrecks to set his nets and catch catfish and carp, hidden in the corners of sunken ships. “This is where there is the highest concentration of fish, it is much easier to catch them.”
But all that is about to change.
In August, a colossal undertaking began to remove the Nazi ships from the waters.
To achieve this, the European Investment Bank and the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) have put 30 million euros on the table.
Serbian authorities estimate that everything will be finished in a year and a half. “In the coming months, we hope to bring out 21 boats,” says Goran Vesic, Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure.
The first to emerge from the water, a minesweeper, was safely put ashore in August. The operation requires caution and skill to prevent any risk of explosion.
“The ships are full of mines, explosives… which could cause irreparable damage if they exploded,” Trailovic said.
“When divers came to look at the wrecks a few years ago and saw what was there, we realised the danger Prahovo was in.”
Captains sailing down the Danube should be able to breathe a little easier in 18 months, when they will no longer be in danger of running aground on Nazi warships.
As for the fishermen, they fear losing their goose that lays the golden eggs. But over the years, “they have served us well,” admits Igor Skundric.
oz/cbo/cn
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