Drobeta-Turnu Severin (Romania)

Drobeta-Turnu Severin (port locode RODTS) is a Danube River cruise port and city in Romania's Oltenia Province (Mehedinti County) with population around 95,000. The city is on the Danube's left (north) bank and below the Iron Gates Gorge that partially forms the Serbia-Romania border.

Drobeta is approx 220 km (135 mi) southeast of Timisoara (Romania's 3rd largest city - after Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca) and approx 355 km (220 mi) west of Bucharest (the country's capital city).

The settlement was founded by the Romans and initially named Drobeta (the Empire's Dacia Province). Near Turnu Severin are the ruins of Trajan's Bridge - the Roman Empire's largest - where the Danube has a width of approx 1200 m (4000 ft). The Bridge was constructed in three years (103-105 AD) on 20 wooden pillars of stone blocks and had length 1135 m (3724 ft), width 14,6 m (48 ft) and height 18,6 m (61 ft). For its building, approximately 200 hectares of an oak forest were used. Its 20 arches were supported by stone pillars, of which only 2 remain (visible only at low water levels).

Drobeta was declared town in 121 AD and had population around 14,000. In the late 2nd century (193 AD) it was ranked "colony," with which its citizens received rights equal to Rome's citizens. In the following years, the city was expanded with temples, forum, basilica, theater, riverport. In the mid-3rd century, it had a land area of ~0,6 km2 and population nearly 40,000.

As a cruise port, Drobeta is included in cruisetour itineraries operated by some of Europe's largest river cruise companies - like Nicko/Mystic, Saga UK and A-Rosa.

The next table shows the port sequence of the 14-day itinerary (roundtrip from homeport Passau) on the Nicko's ship Bolero.

Severnav Shipbuilding Yard

Severnav SA is one of Romania's oldest shipyards, founded in 1852 and extensively rebuilt in 1965-1966.

The shipbuilding yard specializes in the construction of inland and small seagoing vessels, ship repairs, conversions and retrofits.

The company is Bucharest Stock Exchange-listed. Its principal shareholders are BEO Trade SRL (~42%), Constantin Georgescu (~30%), and CFR Marfa SA (~16%). BEO Trade is a Romanian logistics and transportation company founded in 2005. It specializes in the river shipping of petrochemicals and goods, terminal loading/unloading, and marine fuel bunkering. Constantin Georgescu is the company's CEO. CFR Marfa is Romania's state-owned rail freight company operating under the authority of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. It handles the bulk of domestic and international rail cargo, including coal, cement, grain, and chemicals.

Over the past 5-10 years, Severnav has focused on building river cruise ships, container ship hulls, tugboats, port service vessels, and other inland ship hulls, primarily for European customers.

Recent highlights include the construction of river cruise vessels for shipowners like Lüftner/Amadeus Cruises and Emerald Cruises, completion of passenger and container vessel hulls in 2025, and the signing of multiple newbuild contracts in 2025–2026 for passenger vessels, inland ship hulls, and support craft, reflecting a strong order book and continued specialization in the European inland waterways market.