Mediterranean pipelines, cables, and practical limits

A Mediterranean fuel pipeline could reduce tanker demand, but it could not carry troops or other cargo and would be a major engineering project. The later Allied Operation Pluto shows the scale: even a shorter route across the English Channel took years of development and months of preparation. Italy would be laying its pipeline before entering the war rather than under active combat conditions, though that advantage does not make the project simple. Extra telephone and telegraph cables across the Mediterranean offer a smaller and more practical improvement to secure communications.