SAMMAMISH, WASHINGTON, September 15, 2006: The International Cruise Victims Association, Inc. (ICV), a not for profit corporation formed by victims and families of victims of cruise crimes, is calling on all Congressional leaders to support cruise line reform in response to reports of another passenger going missing from a Carnival cruise ship earlier this week.

ICV is saddened to announce that a 36-year-old Ohio woman disappeared from the Carnival Imagination after the ship sailed from Calica, Mexico on a four-day cruise ending in Miami, Florida earlier this week. Based on news reports, there appears to have been a significant delay in reporting this missing passenger to authorities. This is the second disappearance from this ship in three months. On June 21, 2006, CBS news in Miami reported that a crewmember was reported missing from the same cruise ship after not reporting for duty while the ship was en route from Miami to Grand Cayman on a five-day cruise.

Since the beginning of 2006, according to Cruisejunkie.com, a total of 12 passengers and crewmembers have gone missing. In addition there have been a significant number of sexual assaults and other crimes occur during 2006.

On June 28, 2006, members of ICV joined Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT) in Washington, D.C. as he announced the introduction of the Cruise Line Accurate Safety Statistics Act (CLASS Act), which seeks to improve the reporting and handling of cruise ship crimes. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) was also an original co-sponsor of the CLASS Act. Nine members of the House of Representatives from numerous states have since signed on as co-sponsors of the CLASS Act.

Among other requirements in the bill, this legislation will require that any missing passenger or crime be reported within four hours to the Department of Homeland Security. Given the disappearance of the latest cruise passenger, and the disappearance of twelve people plus other crimes just since the beginning of this year, ICV urges all Congressional leaders to protect their constituents who choose to vacation or work on cruise ships by contacting Congressman Shays’ office to support the CLASS Act.

The ICV urges the American Public to support this new requirement to require cruise lines to report all missing passengers and crimes in a prompt manner by contacting their congressional delegation to ask for their support of this important legislation known as the Class Act (HR 5707).

For more information about the International Crime Victims Association, please visit www.internationalcruisevictims.org or write to info@internationalcruisevictims.org, phone 425-753-7711, fax 206-374-2944.