The commanding officer of a Navy submarine currently undergoing maintenance at Maine shipyard was relieved of duty Friday due to a loss of confidence in his leadership, the Navy said. 

Navy Cmdr. Luis Molina, who had been in command of the USS Pasadena since July 2011, was dismissed by Navy Rear Adm. Rick Breckenridge, the commander of a submarine group based in Groton, Conn. 

“I have lost confidence in Cmdr. Molina’s ability to effectively lead USS Pasadena through its maintenance overhaul,” Breckenridge said.  

The attack submarine from Pearl Harbor has been at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, for maintenance since September 2011. 

A spokeswoman for the submarine group, Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, said she could not comment on why Molina had been removed. 

Molina has been reassigned to administrative duties with the submarine group’s office at the shipyard. 

He was replaced as commanding officer by Cmdr. Mark Cooper, who recently spent a year at the National War College in Washington D.C.