The Danube is the second largest river in Europe, flowing through as many as ten countries. It is formed by the confluence of two smaller rivers on the Black Forest mountain range and it flows into the Black Sea on the territory of Romania and is part of the Rhine-Main-Danube canal. It is navigable along its entire length through Serbia (588 km), but in the Djerdap Gorge, below the port of Prahovo, the waterway of the Danube narrows considerably, due to numerous sunken vessels from the World War II.
The waterway is 180 meters wide in that section of the river, but the presence of vessels narrows the waterway to just 100 meters. The sunken ships jeopardize the navigation, especially during low water level periods, as in the past few weeks. Sunken vessels are usually bellow the water level, and now they are visible precisely because of the lowering of the water level.
The Project to remove the sunken ships, which have been lying at the bottom of the Danube for more than seven decades, will be financed with EUR 16.55 million of EU grant approved through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) and extremely favorable loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), in cooperation with the Government of Serbia. This investment was recognised as the Flagship project of sustainable transport of the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) 2022.
https://europa.rs/eu-for-safer-navigation-of-the-danube/?lang=en