Navigation on Danube banned due to ice

Photo Dunav 2-07.02.2012.jpg

A ban on navigation on the Danube River was introduced on Wednesday morning because of ice forming on the river due to extremely low temperatures, the Vukovar Port Authority confirmed.

Around 30 percent of the Danube is covered with ice and the situation is expected to become even more serious because upstream, at Budapest, as much as 70 percent of the river is under ice that is expected to reach Croatia, Port Authority head Ivan Barovic said.

The public water management company Hrvatske Vode this morning introduced regular preventive measures against ice formation on the Danube. Croatian, Hungarian and Serbian representatives were expected to meet in Sombor, Serbia, later in the day to discuss the deployment of icebreakers.

Zoran Djurokovic, director of Hrvatske Vode in Osijek, told Hina five icebreakers at Baja in Hungary were ready for deployment, including two waiting to be sent to Croatia and Serbia.


(Hina)