Famed century-old ship "Sava's Titanic" emerges amid drought in Europe

The wreck of a steam tugboat dating from the early 1900s is the latest relic to emerge from shrinking waters in Serbia as Europe's rivers run dry, with the continent engulfed in prolonged, extreme heat and drought.

The rusting hull — once a famed vessel known as the Slovenian — surfaced earlier this month from the Sava River near the Serbian town of Sremska Mitrovica, 45 miles northwest of the capital of Belgrade.

While parts have appeared above the surface before, the locals say the wreck has never been so exposed.

"It's been several years since it was last seen, so there is quite an interest," said historian Andrija Popovic, who is the head of the town museum.

"It's truly something you don't see every day," he added about the boat, which has been dubbed "Sava's Titanic" by Serbian media.

Warships, mammoth bones and parts of ancient constructions all have emerged from the slumping waters of the Danube, the Rhine and other rivers in the scorching drought that has also disrupted trade, power and water supplies.

A record-low Danube River has severely impacted nuclear power plants in Hungary and Romania and halted traffic along Europe's second-largest waterway. A monthslong drought has ravaged crops from the Netherlands to Bosnia and caused water shortages that extend as high as the Alps.

According to Popovic, the Slovenian was made in 1913 in a shipyard in Budapest, Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It measured roughly 177 feet in length and was initially named Vag, which is Hungarian for Slovakia's longest river, Vah. With a steam engine, the boat pulled heavy cargo between Budapest and other towns along the Danube.

During World War I, the boat largely paused its routes, Popovic added. 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, he said.

"This is when it was renamed the Slovenian," Popovic said, adding that it's a mystery "why this name was chosen."

Then, during World War II, the Slovenian — and its new country — came under Nazi German occupation. After Yugoslav anti-fascist forces liberated Belgrade in 1944, they used the boat to transfer the wounded and equipment while pushing German troops further west, Popovic said.

The boat was carrying wounded fighters when it hit a German mine in late April 1945, Popovic said. "It sank and has stayed in the same place since that day."

The Slovenian is not the only relic that has emerged from Europe's drying rivers.