The 10-day "Exercise Chokepoint '04" concluded with the interception of a cargo ship by British and Dutch navy vessels, US Coast Guard cutters and a French airplane, Vice-Admiral Vivien Crea told reporters in Miami.

She said the other nations involved in other parts of the operation were: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Panama, Singapore, Spain and Sweden.

"Fortunately this was just an exercise but our efforts highlighted the importance of nations working together to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction" she said after watching from the air as the operation concluded off the coast of Hispaniola, an island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

The exercise was held under the Proliferation Security Initiative, a global effort to stop the shipment of weapons of mass destruction.

"The exercise emphasized the sharing of intelligence information in order to improve the ability of these countries to successfully track and take down a suspected vessel," said Crea, who commands the US Coast Guard's Atlantic area.

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