In another country, the 200 or so people who drowned when a ferry capsized and sank a few yards off the Haitian coast probably would be alive today.

The businessman was speaking of the presence of an international flotilla of warships just off the Haitian coast that were sent to enforce the United Nations embargo.

French, American, Canadian and Venezeulan boats patrolled the Haitian coast to ensure the application of the embargo.

A tropical storm watch was issued for the Haitian coast, north of Port-au-Prince to the northern border with the Dominican Republic.

Meanwhile, U.S. forces conspicuously practice invasion preparations off the Haitian coast and White House and State Department aides pepper the airwaves with pointed warnings.

Under the terms of an Executive Order Mr. Bush issued in May, the Coast Guard now intercepts refugee vessels off the Haitian coast.

Officials say they fear that in picking up the refugees just off the Haitian coast, the United States is encouraging more and more Haitians to flee.

The Coast Guard will now process any new refugees on seven cutters patrolling off the Haitian coast.

Also ongoing off the Haitian coast is an archaeological survey project that has tentatively identified four shipwrecks associated with Henry Morgan, including Morgan's flagship The Oxford.

In January 1963, Taconic patrolled the Haitian coast during political unrest in that country.