Posted on 12/05/2011 10:48:57 PM PST by bruinbirdman
The worst drought in more than 200 years has paralysed shipping on the Danube river, including popular pleasure cruises, as shrinking water levels expose bombs and debris from the Second World War.
The level of Europe's second largest river has fallen to a trickle in places as result of a lack of rain in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. An estimated 80 cargo ships are stranded on the Hungary-Serbia border.
"In my many years of experience as a boat captain, I don't remember a drought as harsh as this one," said Anton Balasz, whose Hungarian ship is stranded on an exposed sand bank.
The Danube flows for 1,777 miles passing through eight countries before pouring into the Black Sea, providing one of Europe's most vital and busiest transport routes.
So dry is the Danube that shipping has been put at risk as unexploded bombs and sunken Second World War warships emerge from the water as the river shrinks to expose banks that have not seen the light of day for centuries.
Parts of central Europe have had their driest November since records began in 1775.
The current level of the river in Bulgaria is at its lowest since 1941 and shipping on large stretches of the river has ground to a halt.
Cargo shipping on the Danube is only at 25 per cent of the usual volume due to the low water levels, with cargo being diverted onto roads and rail, the Austrian waterway organisation Via Donau said.
"There is just no water. The situation is critical not only here on the lower Danube but also upriver in Hungary, Austria, Germany," said Ivan Ivanov, deputy chief of Bulgarian River Shipping. "Shipping costs are soaring, I don't even want to calculate our losses."
Branko Savic, the manager
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Where’s Willie Green and his choo-choos when we need him ?
This is the first that I have heard about the Danube since
I left Bratislava in Jan 09.
I always enjoyed watching the fancy cruise boats docking
along the riverfront, and wished that one day I could take one.
There were days that there would be at least four of them docked, and their tourist streaming into “old town”.
I don’t suppose anybody sucks any water out of it, or anything like that. A point worth mentioning in these circumstances, if only to reassure such as myself.
Walking on water is one thing, but biking on water is many degrees more difficult.
Intelligent folk would take this opportunity to clean up the river bottom.
Retrieving scrap metal and deactivating old ordnance would make shipping much safer when the waters rise again.
The low water is presenting opportunities as well as hampering shipping.
I think the archeologists are welcoming this lower water level.
I do hear that they're loaded with recyclable copper and fetch a nice price if you melt them down.
Sure and since they’re flat broke, Bammy will be glad to give them some Stimulus money from his stash stolen from us.
What is the draft on the Danube ?
I’m sure all the affected countries have EOD teams to take care of them.
I’m also sure the countries that originally dropped them will assist to a greater or lesser degree.
In modern bomb disposal it is sometimes possible to disarm them from a distance.
Alternately it may often be feasible to attempt to detonate them in place, depending on the exact location and size.
Also good training/testing for EOD robots.
Just leaving them there reminds me of the old parable about the hanging sword!
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Thanks Tainan.I think the archeologists are welcoming this lower water level.By coincidence, the next topic is from the Balkans. |
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That post.
Your screen name.
Bang!
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