The Sava River in Serbia has revealed a piece of its past, as a historic steam tugboat from the early 1900s has emerged from the shrinking waters. The relic, known as the Slovenian, has been a subject of interest among locals and historians alike, as it has never been so exposed before.

A Historic Find

The Slovenian, a steam tugboat that measured roughly 54 meters (177 feet) in length, was initially named Vag, which is Hungarian for Slovakia’s longest river, Vah. It was made in 1913 in a shipyard in Budapest, Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The boat was powered by a steam engine and was used to pull heavy cargo between Budapest and other towns along the Danube.

During World War I, the boat largely paused its routes, and as the war ended and the Austro-Hungarian empire was dismantled, the boat’s ownership switched to the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenians, which would later become Yugoslavia, as part of war reparations.

As the war progressed, the Slovenian played a significant role in the liberation of Belgrade in 1944. The anti-fascist forces used the boat to transfer the wounded and equipment while pushing German troops further west. However, the boat’s journey came to an abrupt end when it hit a German mine in late April 1945, causing it to sink and remain in the same place ever since.

Europe’s Drought and Heat Wave

The emergence of the Slovenian is a stark reminder of the devastating effects of drought and heat on Europe’s rivers. The continent is experiencing a prolonged and extreme heat wave, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

As a result, the Danube River has reached a record low, severely impacting nuclear power plants in Hungary and Romania and halting traffic along Europe’s second-largest waterway. The drought has also ravaged crops from the Netherlands to Bosnia and caused water shortages that extend as high as the Alps.

According to Serbian hydrology expert Dejan Vladikovic, the current drought is the combination of a lack of winter snow and a very dry spring.