Many have already heard of the famous Second World War operation, Danube Elf, when the German army decided to sink its own fleet in order to halt the advance of the Soviets.
Those ships still lie in the Danube today, near Prahovo close to the Romanian border, and there has long been a plan to recover them to make navigation as safe as possible.
However, this is by no means easy, especially considering that a large quantity of explosive devices is still present on the vessels.
This is why the European Union is financing the removal of these sunken ships, a project worth around 30 million euros, using 16.5 million euros in grants allocated through the Western Balkans Investment Framework. The remainder is financed through a loan from the European Investment Bank, as part of a comprehensive project for the improvement of inland waterways signed with Serbia in 2018.
After decades of stories about the German ghost ships, to which locals regularly swam and dived without knowing the dangers hidden beneath, a project was carried out five years ago – a Technical Report on the Presence of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). This served as preparation for the final recovery of the vessels.
“A baseline picture was obtained, showing the position of the ships, potential UXO and similar details. In 2023 the riverbed was scanned again, and divers also carried out a visual inspection of the bottom. During the works we coordinate with several institutions – the Prahovo Harbourmaster’s Office, Plovput, the Republic Water Directorate, the Niš Institute for the Protection of Monuments, Elixir, and the Iron Gate Hydropower Plant. Coordination with these institutions is necessary so that river traffic can run smoothly. At present we are not closing the waterway while carrying out the works, but it is very possible that this will be required in the future due to the explosive devices found on certain ships,” the company Millenium Team, the project contractor, told EUpravo Zato.
What dangers do the sunken ships pose?
So far, several types of artillery shells, hand grenades, various calibres of ammunition and depth charges have been found on the ships.
Last summer, the first ship under this project was recovered and it is now displayed on a nearby site.
“When in August 2024 a minesweeper was lifted from the Danube, on which anti-aircraft ammunition was found, it was estimated that 4,000–5,000 pieces of this ammunition had been removed. A safe method for their destruction is being considered. This summer, nine M24 hand grenades were found on the ship T20; they were safely removed and destroyed by the Emergency Situations Sector of the Ministry of the Interior. On that occasion, a depth charge of German manufacture, with great destructive power, was also found. We would note that the brisant explosives used to fill explosive devices do not have an expiry date. This means that they are still dangerous and lethal, even after 80 or more years, which requires great caution during their removal and transport,” the Mine Action Centre told our website.
The artillery ammunition has been safely removed from the ship and stored in a special container for explosives, while the depth charge requires a more complex operation.
Preparation is crucial
“It is primarily important to safely remove the depth charge from the sunken ship and to destroy it. The operation must be well planned with all safety measures taken, and once that part is resolved, the lifting of the ship’s sections with large cranes of 500-tonne capacity follows, bearing in mind that the ship is just over 45 metres long and 6.5 metres wide, and has been cut into three roughly equal parts,” they said.
Preparation is the most important element in the process of removing and destroying explosive remnants of war, the Centre adds. It is necessary to determine the type of explosive device in question, its construction and origin, the country and manufacturer, and what may be done with it - whether it may be moved or whether its fuses may be removed, or whether it must be destroyed on the spot. Preparations for removal and destruction can take a long period, because the safety of all those involved in the removal and destruction is paramount, as well as minimising environmental impact and damage. Safety measures include providing medical teams, establishing a security zone, prohibiting movement nearby, and other measures depending on the situation, all undertaken to prevent any kind of incident.
A unique undertaking worldwide
The removal of ERW is not new, but it has not been carried out elsewhere on such a large number of sunken ships. Reading all this, you might think that hundreds of experts and workers are involved in such an undertaking, but that is not the case. The main part of the work is carried out by a small number of very brave people. Every descent into the water is highly risky, but they say, with a smile on their faces: “That’s the job.”
A total of four divers are working on the project, two of whom hold EOD (demining) certificates. In addition to them, there are around 30 people such as machinists, medical technicians, deminers, the ship’s crew and support staff.
Various types of machinery are used: two pontoons, two cranes with a capacity of 150 tonnes each, cables and chains for cutting the vessels. In addition, protective screens for the divers, decompression chambers, metal detectors and other equipment are used. Special cables cut through the ships and, in ideal conditions, can operate for hours without interruption. However, as things often get stuck, a diver must enter the water to restart the system. If everything went according to plan, one ship could be salvaged in two to three weeks, or perhaps even a few days – if there were no dangerous explosive devices. For these reasons, it is not enough to employ only top-level divers; they must also be ordnance technicians, that is, top-level ordnance technicians must also be divers.
When visibility is good, everything runs smoothly. As one of the divers told us when we visited the site, visibility reached up to two metres, which is exceptional when it comes to the Danube.
“In that case, working conditions are very favourable, and the water temperature is around 20 degrees. When it is colder, divers have special equipment, a hot-water system,” he said.
A standby diver must also be present on-site, in case of any unforeseen circumstances, so they can assist.
“The equipment used is similar to that used in all construction works. Skills are what matter most,” said the diver, who wished to remain anonymous.
“This is a unique undertaking anywhere in the world: raising sunken ships that contain explosive remnants of war. And particularly so on such a powerful river as the Danube, where the water flow is measured in thousands of cubic metres per second, where the water speed is very high and visibility extremely low, and where work on these tasks is possible only during periods of low water levels when the river is clearer. For carrying out these tasks, we have no model elsewhere in the world, no one to copy from; instead, we must devise and develop all methodologies and techniques ourselves, together with our partners involved in the project. And finally, we can say that this is, in every respect, a very dangerous job, which requires large resources of all kinds and presents very complex challenges that we will be addressing over the next few years,” the Mine Action Centre told EUpravo Zato.
Which ships are located in the Danube waters near Prahovo?
Between Radujevac and Milutinovac (along the stretch between the 857th to 900th km), a large number of German warships, transport vessels and other floating objects were sunk between 6 and 20 September 1944. The greatest concentration of sunken vessels is in the area of Prahovo itself, from the 857th to 862nd km of the Danube.
According to Millenium Team, based on available data, several types of ships are expected to be recovered, ranging from minesweepers and transport vessels to a hospital ship.
We will mention just a few.
T1 is positioned so that the wreck of T2 lies on its port side. Scanning has shown that it is in one piece and that the hull is undamaged. T2 is damaged, and strong currents have been recorded around it.
T4 is surrounded by the wrecks of T3, N1 and N2, and appears to be split into two parts. It is assumed that the wreck of N17 lies beneath the ship T10.
In the sunken Danube fleet, one can find transport ships, tugboats, patrol vessels, as well as the well-known ship Uskok.
The most dangerous ship has around 50 depth charges
It is estimated that the best-preserved ships are T7, T5 and T1, while the most damaged are T11, T12, T13, T19 and T20.
A special case is T22. This Hungarian ship was originally built as a steam tug and first sailed under the name Fiume. In 1874, it became the property of the First Danube Steamship Company of Vienna.
It was converted into a passenger steamship named Habsburg in 1904. Later, it sailed under other names, and from 1939 it served in the Danube Flotilla. In September 1944, it was used in combat as a monitor equipped with assault armament.
It is the largest and most dangerous ship in the entire sector. It contains around 50 depth charges, both on the deck and around the ship. It can often be seen protruding from the water.
(EUpravo zato)
