The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent remains on schedule to return to sea in mid-May following a period of planned maintenance and capability upgrades, according to written responses published on 30 April 2025.
Responding to questions from James Cartlidge MP (Conservative – South Suffolk), Defence Minister Maria Eagle stated: “There has been no delay to HMS TRENT’s refit. She started a capability refit in October 2024, which completed in December 2024.”
Following the refit, HMS Trent entered a Capability Insertion Period, a standard phase during which new or upgraded systems are integrated and tested. Eagle confirmed that this phase “is now complete.”
The vessel is currently alongside in Malta conducting force generation activity and machinery trials as part of its pre-deployment preparations. “HMS Trent is currently undergoing planned force generation and machinery trials alongside in Malta, before proceeding to sea in mid-May,” Eagle said.
HMS Trent is a Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessel, the sixth Royal Navy ship to bear the name, and is forward deployed to Gibraltar. Built by BAE Systems on the Clyde under a £348 million contract, she was designed for global constabulary duties including counter-terrorism, piracy, and smuggling. Construction began in 2015, with Trent entering service in 2020 and quickly participating in NATO operations in the Mediterranean before being permanently assigned to the Gibraltar Squadron.
Her operational history includes deployments to the Black Sea, the Gulf of Guinea, and multiple maintenance periods in Gibraltar. She faced a series of technical issues in 2022–2023, which kept her dockside for several months. Following her return to service, Trent deployed to West Africa with embarked Royal Marines and a UAV detachment, returning to Gibraltar in late 2023.
From December 2023 to September 2024, Trent operated as the Royal Navy’s Caribbean guardship. She supported diplomatic efforts in Guyana, aided disaster relief in the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands, and conducted multiple high-value counter-narcotics missions with the US Coast Guard. She intercepted smuggling boats and a narco-submarine, seizing tonnes of cocaine worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Trent returned to Gibraltar via Bermuda and sailed to Malta for maintenance in October 2024.
No seems to know why Trent’s refit was awarded to Palumbo Shipyard in Valletta, Malta. Was Gibdock not interested in the job, or lacked the capability, or too expensive?
Feels a really odd place to do an RN refit given the number of Russians who hang out in Malta?
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