Michael Kesselring, and Aizawa Gyogyo, K.K., Intervenor-Appellant v. F/t Arctic Hero

This is an admiralty action brought by crewmen seeking unpaid wages for work they performed on three fishing vessels. The vessels have been arrested and sold, and this litigation concerns the disposition of the proceeds.

The intervenor-appellant, Aizawa K. Gyo-gyo (Aizawa), is a Japanese corporation that has been assigned the ownership interest in equipment that was on board the vessels when they were sold. This equipment was leased by the owners of the vessels and includes fishing nets, radar devices and other equipment necessary for the operation of the vessels as fishing vessels. Aizawa challenges an order by the district court granting partial summary judgment to a small group of representative plaintiffs on their unpaid wages claims. The court held that the plaintiffs held priority wage liens on the vessels and on the equipment owned by Aizawa. Aizawa appeals, contending that the district court applied the wrong test in determining that the crewmen’s wage liens attached to the equipment.

As a preliminary matter, the parties have skirmished over a jurisdictional issue. One group of appellees, who are crewmen-plaintiffs, has moved to dismiss this appeal, maintaining that the…