(ANSA) - BELGRADE - Low water levels on the Danube, caused by drought and high temperatures in August, have reduced freight capacity on the Hungarian part of the river by two-thirds, the Budapest Business Journal said, quoting the Hungarian news agency Mti.

Currently, the Danube is at 93 centimeters in Budapest, still 42 higher than the lowest level measured in 2003, at 51 centimeters.

The president of the Association of Hungarian Inland Waterway Carriers, Attila Bencsik, said that shipping companies are waiting with their freight for higher water or loading goods onto smaller vessels, but losses are nonetheless increasing. (ANSA).