Serbia starts removal of sunken patrol boats from Danube River

The Serbian government has begun an effort to salvage a large number of World War II-era naval patrol boats from the bottom of the Danube River with the objective of making the waterway safe for passing vessels.

The vessels to be salvaged are patrol boats that were operated by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during the final months of the German occupation of the former Yugoslavia. In August 1944, the Nazi German military leadership ordered that the boats be scuttled in the Danube to prevent these from falling into the hands of advancing Soviet forces.

The scuttling of the boats caused the Danube to be partially blocked, impeding vessel traffic. The Soviets were able to remove some of the sunken vessels, but the majority lay undisturbed at the bottom of the river for the next 80 years.

The work began with the removal of the first boat from the Danube last week. This wreck was revealed to have unexploded ordnance and small arms such as rifles on board.

Goran Vesic, Serbia's Minister of Construction, Transportation and Infrastructure, said another 21 wrecks will be recovered in the coming weeks as part of the first phase of the salvage effort while the second phase will see another 80 boats being removed.