Danube record lows strand boats, disrupt nuclear plants

The Danube has fallen to record or multi-decade lows in parts of Europe, stranding boats, disrupting shipping and affecting nuclear and hydropower production along the river.

The low water has left pleasure boats trapped in algae at Corabia in southern Romania and has kept fishing boats onshore near the Vidin-Calafat bridge between Bulgaria and Romania. Ferry services between Romania and Bulgaria have been temporarily suspended in two areas, and a cruise ship carrying almost 200 passengers was evacuated in Bulgaria this week after running aground because of low water levels.

The river has dropped to a 30-year low in Romania and Slovakia and to its lowest recorded level in Hungary. In Serbia, official data at Bezdan showed the Danube at its lowest level in more than half a century, and Dejan Vladikovic of Serbia's Republic Hydrometeorological Service described the situation as very serious.

Energy production has also been affected. Hungary has reduced output at a nuclear power plant that uses Danube water for cooling, while Romania shut down both reactors at the Cernavoda plant, the first time both had been shut at the same time because of low water levels. Serbia's largest hydropower plant was operating at about a third of its normal output, though the state company said supply remained stable.

Commercial transport along Europe's second-longest river is under pressure from the shallow water. A spokesperson for the Bulgarian government's Danube agency said cargo vessels were being forced to wait or sail with reduced loads. In Romania, Adrian Maizel, from the administration monitoring Danube traffic, said some parts of the river were already one metre below the minimum navigable level and that dredging was being used to keep a narrower channel open where possible.

The low levels follow prolonged shortages of rain and successive heatwaves since May. The World Weather Attribution group of scientists said in a report published last week that human-caused climate change made the current drought more severe. Heat was expected to continue, leaving no immediate relief for navigation, fishing and farming along the river.