Italian energy company Saipem has secured a contract to provide underwater monitoring and intervention services for the gas pipeline between Italy and Libya.

Saipem’s statement highlighted that the contract includes survey data management, the provision of critical spare parts, and engineering services related to asset safety and necessary repairs in case of any pipeline damage.

The underwater operations will be conducted using a remotely controlled repair system capable of operating at depths of up to 2,200 meters. The Green Stream pipeline, the longest in the Mediterranean Sea, serves as the main link between Italy and North Africa. Its safety has become increasingly crucial for Rome’s energy security, especially after fuel deliveries via pipelines from Russia to Italy were nearly cut off last year.

The 516-kilometer-long Green Stream pipeline connects the pumping station in Mellitah on the Libyan coast, where gas is transported from fields in Libya such as the Bahr Essalam offshore field and the Al Wafa field in the Libyan desert near the Algerian border, to the reception station in Gela on the Italian island of Sicily.