site.btaLow Water Level of Danube Makes Situation for Navigation Critical

The situation for navigation in the Bulgarian section of the Danube is critical due to the low water level, Ivan Zhekov, Director of the River Supervision - Ruse Directorate at the Maritime Administration Executive Agency, told BTA on Tuesday.

"The situation near Belene is the most critical. There, ships must have a draft of no more than 1.70 metres. There are six convoys in the area that are towing sections. Between Ruse and Somovit, there are also floating cranes that reload barges in order to have less draft," Zhekov stressed. He noted that at the moment there are no stuck ships, but there is a concentration of vessels around the thresholds. Additionally, the width of the navigation path in the most critical sections has been reduced to between 70 and 100 metres, which requires a regime for the passage of convoys.

According to data from the Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River Executive Agency, the level of the Danube River near Ruse on Tuesday was minus 38 centimetres compared to the conditional zero elevation. The forecast for the next two days is for it to drop by another six centimetres. Executive Agency head Ivelin Zanev told BTA that two critical sections are making navigation difficult, namely in the areas of the islands of Batin and Belene. He said that the forecast for the next seven days is for the river level to remain low.