The carrier set sail from Portsmouth on 21 January 2008 as head of the multi-national Task Group 328.01, under Operation Orion 08, which from January to May 2008 carried out exercises and diplomatic visits to twenty ports in the Mediterranean, Africa, the Middle East, and south-east Asia. However, on 23 January, whilst still off the coast of southern England, she sailed back to Portsmouth for repairs to a minor fault in a meat freezer. It was felt to be important to repair this before sailing to a warmer climate, and Navy spokesman Anton Hanney stated that flying in an emergency plumber whilst she was underway would be more expensive than turning back whilst "Illustrious" was still in the English Channel. She sailed back out at 1pm on 24 January and made up the lost 24 hours. Her ports of call included Valletta, Malta 26–29 February 2008.