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BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- Romanian ship owners launched a three-day blockade of the Danube River Monday to protest the international community's indifference to the Serbs' control of river traffic.
Only passenger, police and firefighting boats will be allowed to pass through the blockade -- made up of eight barges, four ships and two motorboats -- at the port of Calarasi, some 62 miles southeast of Bucharest, ship owners said.
The Danube is blocked with debris from Yugoslavia's fallen bridges, which were destroyed during NATO 78-day bombing campaign. But the Serbs have allowed traffic to continue via a bypass channel, built a century ago under the Austro-Hungarian empire.
The channel starts at the Yugoslav port of Bogojevo and ends close to Novi Sad, said Mircea Toader, vice president of the Romanian Ship Owners and Port Operators Association.
``The Serbs clearly told us they have no intention to erect the bridges again because the bombing had no economic affect on their traffic,'' Toader said.
But the Serbs only allow Russian and Ukrainian ships, which primarily carry oil, to move cargo on the Franz Josef canal, he said.
During NATO's campaign against Yugoslavia, Romanian authorities granted NATO planes access to its airspace. Romanians said the Serbs are now blocking their access to the canal as a form of revenge.
Romanian shipping companies said they have lost trade worth tens of millions of dollars with Western Europe.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that it had summoned Yugoslavia's ambassador, Desimir Jeftic, to tell him the reasons for the blockade.
The Romanian government also said it planned to seek support from other countries affected by the blockade, and to present their complaints to the European Union.