"The wrecks could pose a danger to traffic on the Danube because most ships have not been warned about their presence in the water and for the moment we have no way of moving them out of the way," said Mihai Ghiba, one of the port masters at Gruia.

More than 37 barges, most of them German, sank in this part of the Danube in 1944 and have yet to be towed out of the river, but so far "no salvage operations have actually started," Gruia told AFP.

"The only people who are having any fun with the wrecks are the children who use them as diving boards," he added.

The Danube in July sank to its lowest level since 1953 and several convoys of barges have since run aground in the Romanian part of the river.

The low rainfall over Romania in July has led to a 15 percent drop in production at hydro-electric plants and the industry ministry has warned that this push up electricity prices in the autumn.

Hydrologists have predicted that the flow of the Danube would increase slightly in the first part of August, but would remain well below its monthly average.

TERRA.WIRE