Bulgaria Issues Danube Navigation Warning, River Level Critical

The Danube level in the Bulgarian section has reached a critical low. Photo by BGNES

There are five critical navigation spots in the Bulgarian section of the Danube River resulting from its drastically low level, according to the state authorities.

The level of the Danube at the city of Ruse is only 189 cm, and is expected to decline by 20 more cm in the next two days, announced Georgi Georgiev, head of the Executive Agency for Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River based in Ruse, as cited by BTA.

He further said that all shipping companies and ship owners had been warned about the critically low level of the Danube in the Bulgarian section especially near the islands of Belene and Batin.

Georgiev urged the ship crews to be as watchful as possible, and said that the Bulgarian exploration ship Vit is measuring the water level along the Danube between Ruse and Belene in order to place the necessary warning signs on the dangerous spots.

In his words, the low level of the second largest river in Europe is caused by the untypically low precipitation in the Danube basin this year. He further warned a repetition of the 2003 situation is likely when the Danube had a critically low level during the entire summer season.