Navigation on the Danube

On the Danube, Sava, Tisa, Tamiš, the fairway of Begej and the Great Bačka Canal, the 18th-19th century saw the use of the most varied vessels: rafts, ferries, boats; longboats (šiklje), small log boats (čunovi), ‘einbaum’ boats (korabi); large auxiliary barges to warships (barkače); bateaus of different sizes (barke), shapes and materials; small fishing boats with a cover for the fisherman and fishing equipment (tikvare); grain boats of Turkish origin with awning at the back (gemije): various types of vessels for grain and wood transportation (dereglije, tumbasi, žitarice, drvarice); barca boats (barketoni), and later steamships.

Grain was transported by various types of boats and ships.

The Danube, the Sava and the Tisa were sailed also by larger merchant ships, both open and closed ones. Barca boats (barketoni, bertoni) were the biggest closed vessels on the rivers. They were 50 (sometimes even 60) meters in length, around 8 meters in width, and 1.5-2 meters in draught. They could load up to 6,000 quintals of wheat in bulk. The crews consisted of six to eight shipmen with one helmsman, and sometimes even a ship’s clerk who kept the books and paid the bills. Another type of freighters, ‘tumbasi’, also sailed along the Danube and the Sava, carrying up to 3,000 bushels of wheat, with a crew of four shipmen and one helmsman; upstream the ship was tugged by eight horses.

The most common type of boat on these rivers was called “dereglija’ — a kind of open ship with wooden construction used for shipping cargo on short distances. Its most approximate dimensions were: length 10.5 m, width 2.4 m, draught from 0.15 to 0.8 m, cargo capacity from 3 to 13 tons. They usually had one cargo hold. The bigger ones were navigated with a ship’s wheel, while the smaller ones used a steering oar, which looked like a big wooden oar. Downstream these ships were navigated by oars or poles; upstream they were towed by steam or motor ships, and very often they were also towed by people from the shore. When the wind was favorable, the boatmen on the derricks also used the sail.