MIAMI, (Reuters) – The U.S. Coast Guard repatriated  323 Haitian migrants yesterday after intercepting them aboard  two overloaded sailboats in Bahamian waters, northwest of  Haiti’s northern coast, a Coast Guard officer said.

The operations since Friday were the largest interceptions  at sea of would-be migrants from the poor Caribbean state since  it was devastated by an earthquake on Jan. 12 that wrecked the  capital Port-au-Prince and killed up to 300,000 people.

Attempts by Haitians to reach the United States illegally  in small unseaworthy boats had appeared to drop off following  the earthquake, both because of the impact of the disaster and  because of the presence of U.S. military warships supporting a  huge international relief effort during several months.

But the latest interceptions indicated U.S.-bound migration  attempts by Haitians might be picking up momentum again.

“The Coast Guard continues to station cutters and aircraft  off the coast of Haiti to deter illegal migration and to  interdict and rescue those who attempt to depart on these  unsafe vessels and dangerous voyages,” Captain Steven Banks,  chief of enforcement of the Seventh Coast Guard District, said  in a statement.

The Coast Guard Cutter Legare stopped an overloaded 40-foot  (12 meter) sail freighter carrying 164 Haitian migrants about  eight miles (13 km) south of Great Inagua, Bahamas on Friday.

Two days later, the same cutter intercepted another sail  freighter carrying 159 Haitians about 33 miles (53 km) west of  Great Inagua.

More than six months after Haiti’s crippling earthquake,  described by some experts as one of the most destructive  natural disasters in modern history, the United Nations says  the massive relief operation it is heading has made progress.    But at least 1.5 million quake victims are still living in  vulnerable tent and tarpaulin camps across Port-au-Prince, and  aid workers fear that unless more secure shelter and housing is  provided there is a risk of another humanitarian disaster as  the hurricane season enters its peak period in August.