Joseph Cachia & Son Limited was awarded the tender for the implementation of the Mediterranean Border Cooperation Centre (and Back-Up Centre) of the SeaHorse Mediterranean Network (SHMN) for the Armed Forces of Malta.The adopted solution to implement the SeaHorse
Mediterranean Network (SHMN) is similar to one taken for the SeaHorse Atlantic Network (SHAN), currently in operation. It is based on the deployment, establishment and operation of a secure satellite communications network to link all the countries involved.
The network is based on the establishment of NCP’s (National Contact Points in each of the involved African countries) and the corresponding EU-NCC Nodes, which are linked to a Mediterranean Border Cooperation Centre (MEBOCC), Hub of the Network and responsible of the network management. The satellite architecture scheme of the SeaHorse Mediterranean Network is shown in Figure 1. Communication and information exchange will be possible directly between all the nodes of the network, European and African, enabled by the mesh configuration. This concept is shown in Figure 2. The MEBOCC will be placed in Italy, in the Italian National Coordination Centre, and there is a backup Centre in NCC Malta (analogously to the Atlantic version with the SABCC located in Canarias and the SABCC back-up in Madrid). Therefore the system is composed of the interconnection of the following sites:
- MEBOCC: Italian National Coordination Centre.
- Back-up of the MEBOCC: Maltese National Coordination Centre.
- EU-NCC nodes: Spanish (that would enable interoperability with SeaHorse Atlantic Network), Portuguese, French, Greek and Cypriote NCCs.
- NCPs of African countries involved: Libya at first, and then Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt later, if considered convenient.
