Severe drought along the Danube River has driven water levels low enough to expose dozens of Nazi Germany's scuttled World War II warships near the Serbian port of Prahovo and woolly mammoth bones in northeastern Bulgaria.
At least 20 wrecks are now visible from the riverbanks, with historians estimating up to 200 vessels were deliberately sunk by retreating German forces in September 1944 to block Soviet pursuit. The hulks narrow the navigable channel from 180 metres to under 90, causing freight delays that the European Investment Bank says cost Serbia roughly 5 million euros annually. Some may still contain live ammunition.
An EU-backed project supported by a 16-million-euro EIB grant aims to remove 21 of the most obstructive wrecks, with seven recovered as of April 2026 and work expected to conclude by 2028. In Bulgaria, specialists near Ruse identified a mammoth jawbone, tusk fragments, and a femur believed to date from the Ice Age.