EU Audit of Sunken German Fleet Project Near Prahovo
An audit of the project related to the removal of the sunken German fleet from the World War Two, which is being implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, the Ministry of European Integrations and the European Investment Bank, was carried out in Prahovo.
European Union audit team, which conducted this inspection, had the task to review the alignment of project activities with contractual obligations and donor rules. Within the audit, technical and financial documentation were analyzed, as well as the results achieved in the field. During the meeting with the auditors, the key aspects of the project implementation, challenges in the field and the results accomplished were presented.
This project, which has been implemented since July 2023, aims to remove sunken vessels on the part of the Danube near Prahovo.
In order to provide data on the type of explosive remnants of war, their condition, quantity, location, depth and position on, inside and around each individual shipwreck of a sunken German fleet, the Mine Action Center developed the Technical Survey Project for “Sunken German Fleet from the World War Two from the Danube River near Prahovo”, from which the “Project for Protection against Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) during the Removal of 21 Sunken Vessels in the Danube River near Prahovo” also emerged.
As part of the aforementioned project, German fleet ship – a minesweeper, and a fishing boat were successfully removed and cleared of ERW.
The works on this project are complex, as they involve underwater demining, lifting shipwrecks to the surface and inspecting their interiors, as well as removing and destroying the existing ERW.
The recovery of ships from the riverbed is a strategically important step for the safety of the international waterway on the Danube, thereby improving the conditions for safe navigation, especially in low water conditions, which is in line with the plans for the development of the EU transport system.
