Aussies' cruise ship rescues Brits

A cruise ship carrying hundreds of Australian passengers to England has helped bring
home British holidaymakers stranded by the Icelandic ash cloud.
Classic International Cruises' ship Athena was due to arrive in Portsmouth, England
on Friday following a 40-night voyage from Fremantle, Western Australia, the company
said.
The hundreds of mostly Australian, British and New Zealand passengers on board the
550-passenger liner found themselves at the centre of a mercy mission during a
recent stop in Lisbon, Portugal, when the ship took on board 82 British passengers
stranded due to Europe's airport shutdown.
The cruise company told AAP it received calls last weekend from UK residents
stranded in Lisbon trying to get to the UK.
The Portugal-based cruise liner booked six passengers on Athena's last leg from
Lisbon to Portsmouth, but the company thought other UK travellers could also be
stuck, so staff contacted hotels in Lisbon and another 76 Britons were booked on
Athena's three-night journey from Lisbon to Portsmouth.
"Fortunately cabins were available as two groups of passengers had disembarked in
Lisbon to travel through Southern Europe," a Classic International Cruises spokesman
said.
Athena left Portugal on Tuesday, April 20 with all cabins full and was due to arrive
in Portsmouth on Friday afternoon UK time (Friday night AEST).
Athena, which left Fremantle on March 14 at the end of her second annual summer
season in Australia, was one of several cruise liners which helped rescue British
passengers stranded in Europe this week.
About 2200 stranded tourists were sailing back from Spain on Friday on a new STG500
million ($A830 million) luxury cruise ship sent out on a rescue mission, the Press
Association reported.
The Celebrity Cruises ship, Eclipse, was expected to dock in Southampton, England on
Friday.
The tourists - many of whom had been stranded for up to seven days - embarked in
Bilbao, Spain on Thursday.
Meanwhile, on Friday the European air traffic agency said airspace over the
continent was almost completely free of any remnants of the volcanic ash cloud that
caused massive flight disruptions over the past week.
Eurocontrol said the ash cloud was restricted to an area between Iceland and the
northern tip of Scotland.
Flights across Europe were expected to proceed normally on Friday.



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