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)<\/small><\/p>\n
2026-08-20T05:07:38Z<\/p>\n
SREMSKA MITROVICA, Serbia (AP) \u2014 The wreck of a steam tugboat dating from the early 1900s is the latest relic to emerge from shrinking waters in Serbia as Europe\u2019s rivers run dry, with the continent engulfed in prolonged, extreme heat and drought<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n The rusting hull \u2014 once a famed vessel known as the Slovenian \u2014 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. <\/p>\n While parts have appeared above the surface before, the locals say the wreck has never been so exposed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been several years since it was last seen, so there is quite an interest,\u201d said historian Andrija Popovic, who is the head of the town museum. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s truly something you don\u2019t see every day,\u201d he added about the boat, which has been dubbed \u201cSava\u2019s Titanic\u201d by Serbian media.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n A record-low Danube River<\/a><\/span> has severely impacted nuclear power plants in Hungary and Romania<\/a><\/span> and halted traffic along Europe\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n According to Popovic, the Slovenian was made in 1913 in a shipyard in Budapest, Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. <\/p>\n It measured roughly 54 meters (177 feet) in length and was initially named Vag, which is Hungarian for Slovakia\u2019s longest river, Vah. With a steam engine, the boat pulled heavy cargo between Budapest and other towns along the Danube. <\/p>\n 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\u2019s ownership switched to the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians \u2014 which would later become Yugoslavia \u2014 as part of war reparations, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is when it was renamed the Slovenian,\u201d Popovic said, adding that it\u2019s a mystery \u201cwhy this name was chosen.\u201d<\/p>\nThe ship survived two World Wars before it sank <\/h2>\n