A judge has removed several plaintiffs in one of the many ongoing lawsuits against shipping companies over a US law meant to strengthen its blockade against Cuba.

But the decision allows the lawsuit to move forward.

US District Judge Beth Bloom on 27 July ruled only 91-year-old Odette Blanco De Fernandez had a valid claim against Seaboard Marine, which she and more than a dozen relatives accused of illegally using their wrongly-confiscated property by calling on a Cuban port.