In short
- Villa Vie Residences said the monthly fuel cost per cabin in parts of Asia had risen to as much as $8,000 (£6,000) from $1,800.
- The Villa Vie Odyssey, which can carry up to 650 passengers, was more than 750 days into a planned 3.5-year circumnavigation when the voyage was suspended.
- Around 200 passengers were reportedly on board when they were ordered to disembark in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville.
- Passengers Lanette Canen and Johan Bodin said the company’s chief executive told them at 6am on Tuesday to leave the ship by 2pm the same day.
- Cabins on the Villa Vie Odyssey were sold as permanent residencies for $120,000 to $440,000, and were also available to rent from $3,500 a month.
Villa Vie Residences, the US-based operator of the Villa Vie Odyssey, halted its round-the-world voyage on Tuesday, citing extraordinarily high fuel costs, and passengers were ordered to disembark in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville. The ship was more than 750 days into a planned 3.5-year circumnavigation.
The Villa Vie Odyssey left Belfast in October 2024 for what the company called a “continuous voyage around the world”, expected to cover nearly 150 countries. Global fuel prices have soared since the Iran war started earlier this year.
Why was the cruise suspended?
Villa Vie Residences said the monthly fuel cost per cabin in parts of Asia had risen to as much as $8,000 (£6,000) from $1,800. The company said it had slowed the itinerary and spent more time in port to cut consumption, but that those steps did not offset the increase. “Passing the full increase on to residents is not a realistic solution,” it said.
The operator said it would spend the next 60 days on “restructuring and recapitalisation”, adding that “no outcome is assured”.
How many passengers were affected?
The company did not say how many people were on board. The nearly 200m (656ft) vessel can carry up to 650 passengers, and around 200 were reportedly aboard when they were told to leave the ship in Sihanoukville, a coastal city that has gained global notoriety in recent years as a hub for Chinese casinos and scam centres.
What were passengers told?
Passengers Lanette Canen and Johan Bodin told the BBC that Villa Vie Residences’ chief executive informed them at 6am on Tuesday that they had to leave by 2pm the same day. The couple said passengers had known for some time about the company’s financial difficulties, and that a potential investor had carried out due diligence aboard the ship before the deal fell through.
“Even then, we were still hoping a miracle investor would come through,” they said. “Although there were signs that this would happen, we still felt disbelief when it became real. We were heartbroken.”
Another passenger, Holly Hennessey, said those on board had earlier been asked to consider paying a fuel surcharge as global prices rose, and that the itinerary had been “severely curtailed”. She spoke to the BBC from Cambodia, where passengers are staying in different hotels. “We’re just waiting,” she said.
What happens to the passengers now?
Canen and Bodin said Sihanoukville was “a difficult place to disembark” because of the distance to a major international airport. They plan to spend a few days in the city before travelling elsewhere in South East Asia. Hennessey said she would stay in Cambodia in the hope that the Odyssey sails again: “Until they say we are done – done done – I am not giving up.”
Cabins were sold as permanent residencies for $120,000 to $440,000 and were also available to rent from $3,500 a month. The ship’s departure from Belfast had already been delayed by repairs, leaving passengers stranded in the city for months, the BBC reported.
Frequently asked questions
Why did the Villa Vie Odyssey stop sailing?
Villa Vie Residences said the monthly fuel cost per cabin in parts of Asia had risen to as much as $8,000 from $1,800, and that slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port did not offset the increase.
Where are the Villa Vie Odyssey passengers now?
Passengers disembarked in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville and are staying in different hotels there while the operator spends 60 days on restructuring and recapitalisation.
How much did it cost to live aboard the Villa Vie Odyssey?
Permanent residencies in the ship’s cabins were priced from $120,000 to $440,000, and cabins were also available to rent from $3,500 a month.
When did the Villa Vie Odyssey leave Belfast?
The ship departed Belfast in October 2024 on a voyage expected to span 3.5 years and cover nearly 150 countries.
With reporting from BBC News.
Stock image, not from the events described. Globe World — Jo%E3o%20Silas / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)