Analysts Skeptical New Somali Navy Can Fight Piracy

The U.N.-backed transitional government in Somalia has begun training recruits to serve in the Somali navy, which has not been in existence for nearly two decades. The effort comes amid increasing international concern about how to tackle the problem of piracy off the Somali coast. The continuing turmoil inside Somalia is proving to be the biggest obstacle toward ending the chaos at sea.The training of some 500 young sailors for Somalia's new navy began last Wednesday on the grounds of the Old Port in northern Mogadishu.It is a facility which, like the rest of the capital, clearly shows the deep scars and neglect of nearly two decades of civil war. Amid the ruin, the navy's new chief, Admiral Farah Omar Ahmed, is attempting to resurrect a branch of the Somali armed forces that disintegrated with the country in 1991.Ahmed has not held a command since 1982. But in an interview with VOA in Mogadishu, he said he is ready to lead.The admiral said the young men are volunteers between the ages of 18 and 25. He said they are the first of what he hopes will eventually be a naval force of 5,000 men, capable of curbing piracy and other illegal activities in Somali waters. For now, most of the naval training is taking place on land. Somalia's transitional federal government does not control much of the country, let alone Somalia's 3,000 kilometer-long coastline. And it has no ships capable of carrying large numbers of men.
Even the $60 monthly salary promised to each sailor is largely dependent on the payment of more than $200 million pledged at a donor conference two months ago in Brussels. Government officials have complained that little, if any, of the money has reached Mogadishu.
Horn of Africa analyst at Chatham House, Roger Middleton, said to hope for a functioning navy in Somalia right now is simply not realistic...more..http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2009/06/mil-090618-voa07.htm