OWNERS of a Hong Kong ship wrongly blamed for causing six deaths in a collision with a mainland security vessel have won a seven-year battle for justice with a landmark ruling by the mainland's highest court.
But delays to the case mean victims' families will be unable to claim millions of dollars in compensation.
A mainland border guard and five civilians were killed when a ship was in collision with the 155-tonne Shan Wei early on November 25, 1992.
They had been trying to board a vessel they suspected of smuggling when their boat, a commandeered fishing vessel, was rammed 27km southwest of Waglan Island.
Rescue teams from Hong Kong saved 15 others from drowning.
The name of Worlder Shipping's container ship, Trade Expansion, was given to the Guangzhou Maritime Superintendent Bureau two days later by the Marine Department, which was unaware that another ship had been in the area.
An inquiry by mainland authorities pinned the blame on the Trade Expansion, a decision upheld by two mainland courts.