Danube Freeze Shuts Bulgarian-Romanian Ferries

The Danube has frozen for the first time in some 20 years. Photo by Darik Radio

The freezing of the Danube River has terminated the operation of several ferry boat lines connecting Bulgaria and Romania, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry announced late Saturday.

Earlier on Saturday, the Bulgarian Agency for Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River announced that the river is 100% frozen from kilometer 386 to kilometer 375, which is near Bulgaria's Silistra.

As of 5 pm on Saturday, February 11, 2012, the floating ice reached between 60% and 90% in the rest of the Bulgarian section of the Danube.

"We expect today the freeze of the Danube in the Bulgarian section to continue upstream," the Agency said.

The authorities have shut temporarily the ferries between Bulgaria's Vidin and Romania's Calafat and between Bulgaria's Oryahovo and Romania's Beket.

The freezing of the Danube River has been attributed both to the low temperatures and to its record low level since the summer of 2011; the river has thus frozen for the first time in 20 years.

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