Meteo-oceanographic data for offshore pipeline engineering: thirty years of Snamprogetti experience in the seas around Italy

The paper provides a description and a reference for some largely unpublished data sets of meteo-oceanographic parameters collected in the frame of offshore pipeline projects in the Strait of Sicily, in the Libyan Sea and in the Strait of Messina. The data are usually of a high standard, still largely unexplored and could be of considerable value for the scientific community. The offshore industry poses new demands as concerns the analysis of measured data: some examples in this sense are given in the conclusion of the paper, as they are usually on the border line, between engineering and applied research, providing a possible ground for cooperation between industry and research institutes.