For one, he said, investigators have pointed to the shape and the security features of the yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, the gleaming white luxury vessel, 180 feet long and 32 feet wide.

These days, Mr. Maxwell is always welcome at the Waldorf-Astoria, where he reserves the presidential suite on days that he is not aboard his 190-foot yacht, the Lady Ghislaine.

This was the harsh financial background to his sudden decision to take a break alone on his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, which was moored in Gibraltar.

Mr. Maxwell had flown to Gibraltar to board his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, on Oct. 31, saying he wanted to recuperate from a cold.

At first, he did, parking the yacht that took him on his last voyage, the Lady Ghislaine, named after a daughter, in the East River off 30th Street and holding court.

Two weeks later, on November 5, 1991, Maxwell died in an apparent fall from his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine.

Lady Mona K (formerly Lady Ghislaine) is a luxury motor yacht built by Amels in 1986.

Maxwell disappeared from his luxury yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, while it was cruising off the Canary Islands; his body was later found drifting in the Atlantic Ocean.

He was reported to be the only passenger aboard the gleaming yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, a 430-ton luxury vessel which is named after one of Mr. Maxwell's daughters.

Alone on his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, Mr. Maxwell knew that they were circling him with repeated demands for immediate repayment.