Cruise ship beaches on Romania's Danube due to low water level

A passenger cruise ship beached on the Danube due to the river's low water level in Bechet Danubian harbor. Six ships convoys have been stationed for the last couple of days in the Bechet harbor due to the low water level. The passengers on the cruise ship will be taken by bus to Bucharest, where they are expected to fly back home.

The Romanian Transport Ministry has recently asked the Government for EUR 1 million (RON 4 million) to unblock the 257 ships that are blocked on the Danube as water levels have dropped in recent days, and to remove the “risk situation”. The Ministry didn’t specify what method will be used to do so. The Danube’s lower water level was triggered by the lack of rain in the last period. The river’s level decreased to depths of 1.2 to 1.4 meters in some areas, so navigation was blocked on Saturday because of some critical points. Wednesday afternoon, the river flow when entering the country was 2,500 meters per second, below the average for September, of 3,800 cubic meters. A similar situation occurred on the Rhine river last week. editor@romania-insider.com