PEARL HARBOR — Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard is getting a big boost with the homeporting of three of the newest class of submarine and a $30 million dry dock improvement project, an official said yesterday.

"We're frankly ecstatic that we can begin our long overdue modernization years ahead of the current schedule," said Kerry Gershaneck, a spokesman for the Pearl Harbor Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility.

Gershaneck's observations came on graduation day for 117 shipyard apprentices, and echoed sentiments by others on the future of the shipyard, which just two years ago was on a possible base-closure list.

Three of the Navy's new Virginia-class attack submarines will be homeported at Pearl Harbor, with the USS Texas and USS Hawaii arriving in 2009 and the USS North Carolina following a year after, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said yesterday.

"The homeport decision makes a very strong statement about the significant strategic importance of the Pacific," Inouye said. "It also places a high level of importance on this shipyard and those of you who work here."

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said the Pearl Harbor move suggests that the Pentagon is "moving away from a Euro-centric view" and is looking more at the Pacific region.

The $30 million will fund dry dock upgrades, including replacing temporary waterfront facilities with permanent ones.

"This is the first significant capital improvement for the shipyard in quite a few years," Inouye said.

The dry dock improvements will mean "an immediate return on investment because it will dramatically improve our efficiency on the waterfront," Gershaneck said.

For the apprentice graduates who join the ranks of more than 4,000 apprentices, journeymen and professionals at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, the announcements were encouraging after a period when the shipyard faced an uncertain future.

In 2005, Pearl Harbor was on a list of 33 shipyards considered for closure. Four naval shipyards remain in the United States and competition for work between them has increased in recent years.

"It should be an exciting time for (the submarines) to come here," said Carolyn Brewster, who graduated yesterday from an apprenticeship as an electronic measurement equipment mechanic and won an award for her outstanding work.

Danny Iranon, 35, of Waikele, was presented with an award for his work as a plastic fabricator apprentice during the ceremony, which took place on Pearl Harbor's parade ground.

"The program is a good opportunity to make a better, more stable life, to raise a family and buy a house," said Iranon, who has three children.

The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Apprentice Program graduated its first class in 1924. Since then, more than 4,800 men and women have completed the four-year program, which is a partnership between the shipyard, the U.S. Department of Labor and Honolulu Community College.