Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard is under new command as of yesterday.

Capt. Gregory Thomas assumed the post from Capt. Frank Camelio, who gave his last remarks as the shipyard's commander in a ceremony yesterday.

Thomas, who will be the 46th commander of the shipyard since its creation in 1908, comes to Hawai'i from Maine, where he served as the operations officer at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Pearl Harbor shipyard is the largest industrial employer in Hawai'i, with a workforce of 4,800.

Thomas said he will continue to improve efficiency at Pearl Harbor and said he envisions the naval shipyards working together toward a "rising tide that lifts all shipyards to a necessary level of performance."

Thomas also was instrumental in developing the first of the new Virginia class of attack submarines, which are scheduled to replace aging Los Angeles-class submarines. A number of the new subs will be based at Pearl Harbor in the near future, including the USS Hawaii, which is expected to arrive in 2009.

"The Navy has been great to me in providing education and training," Thomas said. "One of my focuses will be in repaying back what I owe in investment in outreach programs in universities and schools on this island and elsewhere, to make sure that we prepare for the high-technology future."

Thomas earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering and a doctorate in hydrodynamics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"I know Capt. Thomas is ready and more than up to the task," said Camelio, who is stepping down after a 30-year Navy career, including three years as commander of the shipyard, which he called "the most magnificent period in my life."

Before the change of command, the shipyard received a VPP "Star" for excellence in safety from the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for accident rates that were 44 percent below the national shipbuilding and repair industry's accident rates. "Star" status is the highest rating attainable under OSHA.

The ceremony, which included a traditional tolling of the bells and a reading of orders by each captain, also had a historic setting.

It took place on the lawn before historic Building One, where Navy cryptologists helped the United States achieve victory in the Battle of Midway by deciphering Japanese military codes in the building's basement.

On the second floor, sailors stood behind the red, white and blue-dressed railings in a symbolic "manning of the rails" that dates to change-of-command ceremonies in the era of wooden ships.

The shipyard is facing challenges that include modernizing its World War I- and World War II-era waterfront infrastructure.

Both Pearl Harbor shipyard and the 200-year-old Ports-mouth shipyard were on a list of 33 military bases considered for closure in 2005, but both eventually prevailed. Four naval shipyards remain in the United States and competition for work among them has intensified in recent years.

Camelio, who said he once dreamed of working in the Boston Naval Shipyard before it closed in 1974, acknowledged the challenges facing Pearl Harbor, the most important of which was to stay relevant.

"We're not at the top of our game yet, but we will remain relevant," he said. "I know our shipyard will endure and rise to great significance in the coming decades."