British Royal Navy ship arrived in the northern Spanish port of Santander to pick up troops and civilians stranded due to the volcanic ash cloud grounding flights across Europe.The HMS Albion will transport over 450 army personnel as well as around 280 civilians to the port of Portsmouth in southern England, the British defence ministry said in a statement.Among the army personnel who boarded the ship were members of a field hospital regiment and a RAF squadron who had completed a tour of duty in Afghanistan.The soldiers were able to reach Spain by plane as it is one of the few European nations not to be significantly affected by the ash cloud.Most of the civilians who boarded the ship were holiday-makers who became trapped because of the closure of British airspace, with priority given to those "with a pressing need to return to Britain", a British embassy spokesman said.Soldiers in fatigues entered the boat alongside families with children wearing colourful backpacks, images broadcast on Spanish television showed.Britain's Sky news channel reported another 400 people had turned up at the port, hoping to get on the ship, but were turned away.The HMS Albion, an amphibious landing ship based at Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth, is expected to arrive at Portsmouth on Wednesday night (local time). It is capable of carrying more than 600 personnel as well as vehicles and combat supplies.
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