The INS Trishul Civitavecchia visit ended on Wednesday, when the Indian Navy's guided missile stealth frigate sailed from the Italian port after four days of engagements with the Italian Navy.

The high point of the stay was a visit by her crew to ITS Cavour, the Italian Navy's aircraft carrier and flagship.

INS Trishul Civitavecchia visit took the crew aboard ITS Cavour

The port call featured professional interactions and cross-deck visits, according to the Ministry of Defence. Sailors from INS Trishul went aboard Cavour, which carries the pennant number C550.

Cavour is the largest ship ever built for the Italian Navy. According to the Italian Navy, she displaces 27,000 tonnes at full load and is 244 metres long. She was handed over in 2008. The ship can work as an aircraft carrier, a command ship, a logistics and amphibious platform and a hospital ship, sometimes all at once. Her air wing now flies the F-35B.

Indian sailors have trained with the carrier before

Cavour is not new to the Indian Navy. In October 2024, on the Italian carrier strike group's first deployment to the Indo-Pacific, she exercised off Goa with INS Vikramaditya and her air wing. It was the first exercise between carrier strike groups of the two navies, according to reports at the time. Indian Navy MiG-29K fighters and Indian Air Force Su-30MKI and Rafale jets flew alongside Italian F-35Bs, and the Italian Navy described the dual carrier drills as a valuable training opportunity.

Ambassador of India to Italy visits INS Trishul

The Ambassador of India to Italy and senior officers of the Marina Militare, as the Italian Navy is known, visited the ship during her stay, the ministry said.

India's Ambassador to Italy is Vani Rao. In an article published this week, she wrote that the visit also included courtesy meetings with the Mayor of Civitavecchia and local officials, along with joint activities between the Indian crew and Italian naval personnel. She noted that India had taken part as an observer in Mare Aperto, a major exercise of the Italian Navy.

Passage exercise with Carlo Margottini opened the visit

INS Trishul reached Civitavecchia, the port that serves Rome, on 25 October. Before entering harbour she held a Passage Exercise with the Italian frigate Carlo Margottini, covering manoeuvring drills, communication procedures, replenishment approaches, cross-deck landings, personnel transfers and boarding operations.

Italy came after Lisbon, Plymouth, Valencia and Toulon

Before Italy, the frigate called at Lisbon in Portugal from 18 to 21 October. Earlier in the month she sailed with HMS Sutherland in the sea phase off Plymouth during Exercise Konkan-26.

The deployment opened at Alexandria in Egypt in mid-September. She then went to Toulon for the 24th edition of Exercise Varuna with the French Navy, and on to Valencia in Spain on 30 September. INS Trishul is the second ship of the Talwar class. She was commissioned on 25 June 2003.