A rusting hull, historically known as the Slovenian and now popularly dubbed "Sava's Titanic" by Serbian media, has emerged from the receding waters of the Sava River near the town of Sremska Mitrovica, located 45 miles northwest of Belgrade. While portions of the wreck have been visible in the past, local residents report that the vessel has never been as exposed as it is currently.
Andrija Popovic, a historian and the head of the town museum, noted that the wreck has not been seen for several years, drawing significant public interest to the site.
According to Popovic, the Slovenian was constructed in 1913 at a shipyard in Budapest, Hungary, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Measuring approximately 177 feet in length, the steam-powered vessel was originally named Vag, after Slovakia's longest river, the Vah, and was used to transport heavy cargo between Budapest and various towns along the Danube.
During World War I, the boat largely suspended its operations. Following the war and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the vessel was transferred as war reparations to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became Yugoslavia. It was then renamed the Slovenian, though the origin of this specific name remains a mystery.
During the Nazi German occupation of World War II, the boat remained in the region. Following the liberation of Belgrade by Yugoslav anti-fascist forces in 1944, the vessel was used to transport equipment and wounded fighters while pushing German troops westward. In late April 1945, while carrying wounded personnel, the boat struck a German mine and sank, remaining in that exact location ever since.
The emergence of the Slovenian is part of a wider trend across Europe, where a monthslong drought has caused water levels in the Danube, the Rhine, and other rivers to drop significantly, disrupting trade, power, and water supplies.
The record-low levels of the Danube have halted traffic on Europe's second-largest waterway and severely impacted nuclear power plants in Hungary and Romania. The drought has ravaged crops from the Netherlands to Bosnia, with water shortages extending as far as the Alps.
In the Slovenian Alps, the Triglav Lodge, which sits at an elevation of 2,515 meters (8,251 feet), has restricted water use for hikers and climbers, including for toilets and showers, and is using paper plates to save water on dishwashing.
In Italy, the most severe drought in 70 years has exposed the piers of an ancient bridge over the Tiber River that was once used by Roman emperors.
Other historical relics have also surfaced due to the receding waters. On Serbia's eastern border with Romania, the rusty remains of Nazi German ships from the Black Sea fleet have appeared in the Danube. These ships, some still laden with weapons, were deliberately sunk by German troops as they retreated from Romania near the end of World War II.
Similar discoveries occurred in 2022 and 2024, when dozens of Nazi-era ships emerged near Prahovo following record-low water levels. Additionally, in Bulgaria, researchers recovered the well-preserved remains of a young woolly mammoth, including tusks, a jawbone, ribs, and a shoulder blade, from the drying sands of the Danube.
Europe is currently the world's fastest-warming continent, with temperatures rising twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.
By late July 2026, the European Drought Observatory reported that half of the United Kingdom and the European Union were experiencing drought, with 9% of the territory at the most severe "alert" level.
Serbian hydrology expert Dejan Vladikovic attributed the current conditions to a combination of a very dry spring and a lack of winter snow. He warned that such situations are expected to become more frequent, stating, "We are entering periods when this will, unfortunately, become a new normalcy."
The animal is thought to have been young and the dark color of the bones may indicate that it spent a lot of time in a marshy environment, experts said. The bones are an important discovery because they are well preserved and "unlike many previous discoveries … were concentrated in the same place," indicating that they all belonged to the same animal, a local museum director told AFP.
Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness.
