Fuller

Rita Fuller, Babbette Thayer, and Thomas Wilson (“plaintiffs”) appeal a summary judgment for Golden Age Fisheries, Inc., et al. (“defendants”) in plaintiffs’ action for unpaid wages as crewmembers on several Alaskan fishing voyages.

The district court held that the plaintiffs’ in rem claims against the vessel were time-barred under 46 U.S.C. § 10602 (a). The court also held that plaintiffs’ in personam wage claims were time-barred under a provision in their employment contracts. Finally, the court held that federal law preempted plaintiffs’ minimum wage and overtime claims under Alaska state law. The district court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1333 . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and affirm.

Plaintiffs worked aboard the defendant vessel, F/T PACIFIC ORION, formerly the MICHELLE IRENE (the “MICHELLE IRENE”), at times during the period from September 23, 1989, through November 21, 1990. They brought this action on behalf of approximately 300 seamen and women who were employed as processors and crewmem-bers and who dispute the division of proceeds from the sale of fish.

The MICHELLE IRENE, a factory trawler whose home port is Seattle, is engaged in the…