Somalia took a tentative step toward policing its own waters on Tuesday with the graduation of its first 500 naval recruits, though officials say international funds are needed to make the navy a force against piracy.

The UN-backed Somalia government said it hopes the recruits can help launch the country's first naval force in nearly two decades.

The eastern African country currently relies on international warships, including Canadian Forces vessels, to police its lawless shores while the government fights with Islamist insurgents and clan-based militias fight each other.

As a result, vessels passing Somalia on the Asia-Europe trade route are frequent targets of pirates. Canada, Japan, Germany, the United States, China and other nations have all sent forces to the Gulf of Aden to assist cargo and transport vessels.

In May Canadian frigate HMCS Winnipeg thwarted a number of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden. However, pirates have continued to expand their operations to hundreds of kilometres offshore and last year captured more than 100 ships, with attacks increasing this year.

Navy faces steep challenge

Adm. Farah Ahmed, Somalia's new naval commander, said the new recruits are the first portion of a force he hopes will grow to 5,000 sailors. However, the new navy faces a number of hurdles.

The force has only a dozen vessels so far, but pirate gangs have used more on a single attack.

The Somali government plan also calls for naval bases to be established in the ports of Bosasso, Berbera and Kismayo, with the headquarters in the capital of Mogadishu, but each of the ports has problems.

Berbera is in Somaliland, a relatively peaceful area in the north that has declared its independence from the government; Kismayo in the south is in the hands of Islamist insurgents, while Bosasso is near pirate havens.

The international community has been reluctant to fund more recruits and ships given the uncertainty of the government and past corruption problems.

With files from the Associated Press