Clark Ádám Returns Home: A Tactical Journey on the Danube
On the evening of Thursday, June 26, our iconic flagship, the Clark Ádám floating crane, safely returned to Hungary after spending exactly two months in Serbia. But the journey was far from simple. Due to rapidly falling water levels, the return became a real tactical challenge: a race against time and inches. The 285 river-kilometer trip back home was full of surprises.
Here is how the team experienced it – in their own words:
„The Clark Ádám floating crane has returned from Belgrade. Just as we had calculated it would. We planned for it to stay two months and it stayed two months. Yet in the final days, the whole situation felt more like an adventure than a carefully executed operation.
When the water gauge in Vukovar shows 50 centimeters, that means Clark’s engines are just 10 centimeters above the rocky riverbed. In a 1.5-kilometer-long stretch of shallow water, that alone is a critical factor.
On Sunday, June 22, we had to make a decision: stay in Belgrade, finish the lifting tasks, and risk being stuck there for months due to drought or begin the return journey and try to beat the falling water levels.
Back in Hungary, the construction of the new Danube bridge in Mohács was waiting for us. If we didn’t make it back in time, the project could be at risk. In just one week, the water level had dropped a full meter.
We made the call: we would go. We planned to depart Monday morning but customs wouldn’t let us go. We waited. One more document was missing. We waited. The water dropped even faster. Still, we waited. Another paper. More waiting.
Finally, by Monday evening, we got clearance. Was it too late? Maybe. Progressing against the current was slow, and to make things worse, the throttle lever broke we had to push it manually, just to avoid standing still. That night called for an emergency repair, and the most critical section of the river was still ahead.
By Tuesday morning, we were back on the move. The water was holding at 50 centimeters just enough to get through. By Wednesday, it was forecasted to drop to just 17 cm. This was the final moment.
The riverbed narrowed, the current sped up. At full throttle, we were practically stationary in the rushing water. Were we even moving? At times, the same tree on the shore stayed level with us for ten minutes straight. And yet, we made progress one and a half kilometers in nearly two hours. But we were moving.
And finally, we made it through.
The Clark Ádám floating crane is back on Hungarian waters. Work continues in Mohács the next chapter of the Danube bridge construction begins.
Was this how we planned it? Yes.
How? As always: through teamwork.
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