Historic shipwreck emerges on Serbia's Sava River

The wreck of a large Austro-Hungarian ship, built in 1913 and which sank in 1945 in the Sava River in Serbia, has emerged in recent days due to exceptionally low water levels in the river, which flows from its source in Slovenia and meets the Danube in Belgrade.

Following World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the vessel was transferred in 1921 to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes and renamed Slovenac. In April 1945, during the final stages of World War II, the Slovenac struck a magnetic river mine in the Sava River and sank near the village of Drenovac in Serbia. Extreme heatwaves and severe drought across Central and Southeastern Europe drove the Sava's water levels down to record lows.