| In Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC), the Maritime Control Center is a Secret Project. It may be built at a cost of 270 minerals, on discovery of Doctrine: Initiative (E4). It acts as a Naval yard in all your bases: +2 morale for all new naval units, and fast repair within bases. It also provides +2 move points to all your naval units, including the native Isle of the Deep. That's a double move for the basic Transport design, and +50% move for a mid-lifecycle Isle'.
How useful is this? Naval exploration remains as important in the sci-fi milieu as in the Civilization games, and the Maritime Control Center is a good investment for any faction. Obviously, if you've randomized a Planet with too much land, this won't be all that useful; for most games, though, sea exploration is synonymous with harvesting Unity
Pods and establishing contact with other factions, once you've explored your starting land area. Naval Yards cost 72 minerals; at the price of only 3.75 Naval Yards, the Maritime Control Center is one of the most cost-effective "such-and-such base facility in every base" Projects. The extra move for Isles of the Deep makes it one of the more useful non-Psi-oriented Projects for the Gaian faction.
Secret Project animation narrative:
"It is altogether fitting that we who have sailed the deeps of space now return again to the sea. This is in many ways a water planet, and it can be ruled from the waves. With sea power, rugged terrain can be bypassed and enemy strongholds isolated. Once naval superiority is achieved, Planet is ours for the taking."
-- Col. Corazon Santiago,
"Planet: A Survivalist's Guide" | 
