More than 100 people completing four-year apprenticeships received graduation certificates Friday during ceremonies at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, helping to move Hawaii’s largest industrial employer toward a renewed role in the Pacific.

The added personnel reflects a turnaround for the 103-year-old shipyard, which in 2005 was on the list of naval bases considered for closure.

"I’m proud to say over the past few years, the Pearl Harbor Shipyard has turned the corner. … It has been a long journey," U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said at the ceremony.

With the Navy shifting 60 percent of its attack submarines to the Pacific, the shipyard has steadily increased its civilian work force during the past several years, going from 4,064 in 2007 to more than 5,000 by this fall.

The shipyard has begun a 10-year, $1.86 billion warship modernization program.

Alma Lei Montero, 27, a graduate who will work as a metals inspector, said she knows people who are in harm’s way depend on the quality of their work.

"It’s a huge responsibility," she said.

Shipyard spokesman Kerry Gershaneck said the work of maintaining nuclear submarines "takes extreme expertise."

Inouye said the Asia-Pacific region is growing in importance for America, economically and diplomatically.

"There is no question that we must be vigilant and committed to maintaining peace and stability because national prosperity is directly linked to national security," he said. "Our nation’s strong military presence in this Asia-Pacific region keeps the peace. It deters aggression and safeguards a return to economic prosperity."

Inouye, in response to a question, said it is no secret China has started to develop an effective naval fleet.

He said Chinese submarines outnumber those of the U.S. in the Pacific and that a Chinese aircraft carrier is soon to be operational and another is being prepared.

The shipyard’s impact on the Hawaii economy stands at $845 million this year, including contracts, salaries and purchases.

The 111 journey-workers who graduated Friday represent 18 industrial trades. They completed work-study programs that pay trainees while they earn an associate’s degree in applied science from Honolulu Community College.

As journey-workers they will earn more than $29 an hour.

With the class of 2011, the shipyard will have graduated more than 1,000 participants since the program was begun in 1999.

With dry docks at Pearl Harbor dating back to World War II, shipyard officials say a number of changes are being made to improve the facilities.

The shipyard has received approval to spend $25.5 million on two dry docks for ship support services by April, and $15.85 million for a production services support building by September 2012.

The Pearl Harbor improvements come at a time when China is asserting claims to offshore oil in the South China Sea and challenging claims by several nations, including Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

China has warned Exxon Mobil Corp. and other oil exploration companies to refrain from conducting oil exploration with Vietnam or face trade sanctions.

Earlier this year, China announced it began pumping oil from a disputed gas field, despite a sovereignty dispute with Japan.

In March the Philippines said it sent two military aircraft to the South China Sea after two Chinese patrol boats confronted a Philippine oil-exploration vessel.