Srbija to raise 23 German WW II ships sunken in Danube River

NEWS 02.06.202011:56
N1 (arhiva, ilustracija)

Out of 220 ships known to be sunk in the Danube River by the German army in World War II, 30 were raised after the war, and out of 183 remaining in the river 23 were said to particularly endangered the environment, the Beta news agency reported on Tuesday.

Veljko Kovacevic, from the Ministry of Construction, Traffic and Infrastructure, told the state RTS TV the danger came for unexploded mines and that the underwater shooting started to locate them.

Germans sunk the ships on top of each other deliberately to slow down the advancing Soviet Red Army at the end of the WW II, Kovacevic said.

The next step would be to announce a public call for a company which would take the job of taking the ships out of the river, he added

„We established that 23 ships endanger the safety of navigation and the environment, slows the traffic down when waters are low and they can be seen.

The first phase of underwater shooting will determine their precise locations, Kovacevic said.

He added the most dangerous and most complicating job was taking them out.