PRAHOVO: A Serbian operation to clear a fleet of sunken Nazi warships from the Danube will bring relief to vessels struggling to navigate the waters, even if local fishermen will lose out.

But the munitions buried underwater with the scuttled vessels mean they cannot be left there to rust indefinitely. For decades, the wrecks have been a reliable spot for fishermen to reel in their daily catch along this stretch of the river in eastern Serbia.

“Every year, they become visible when the water level of the Danube is low, especially when it drops extremely like this,” fisherman Igor Skundric said, surveying the waters from his wooden boat.

Skundric has used the dozens of sunken warships to place traps to catch catfish and carp nestled amid the rusting vessels, near the Serbian village of Prahovo. “There is a high concentration of fish, so it’s much easier for us to get a catch,” he said.

The massive recovery operation will soon change that. But pulling the rusting hulks from the river will bring much-needed relief to local shipping. The spot has long frustrated navigators plying the Danube in the summer months, when water levels drop and passage through the channel narrows.

During an eyewitness’s visit to the area, reporters saw two cargo boats that had run aground after trying to avoid the sunken vessels. “Captains must be extremely cautious and incidents such as grounding frequently occur,” Damir Vladic, the manager of the port of Prahovo, said.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2024