Villa Vie Suspends Operations, Strands Residents in Cambodia

US-based operator Villa Vie Residences has suspended operations after running out of money, leaving around 200 passengers who had paid to live aboard its residential cruise ship stranded in the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville. The company cited an "extraordinary" rise in fuel costs since a conflict involving Iran began in late February, which it said had made its operating model unsustainable. The Odyssey, flagged in the Bahamas and carrying 650-passenger capacity, had arrived from Thailand on 23 October with 203 guests and 156 crew, according to Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk province. Passengers were given roughly seven hours to disembark before a planned onward voyage to Vietnam was cancelled, leaving many retirees and remote workers without accommodation far from home. The ship is due to refuel and depart on 31 October. Villa Vie said per-cabin monthly fuel costs had risen from an average of $1,800 to between $6,000 and $8,000 in parts of Asia, a burden it said could not be passed on to residents. The company said it is working toward restructuring and recapitalisation over the next 60 days, with no guaranteed outcome, and is coordinating disembarkation and temporary housing. Passenger Randy Cassingham, who runs the ResidentialCruising.com blog, accused the company of doing little to assist those stranded. The Odyssey, built in 1993 and acquired by Villa Vie in 2023, began its current voyage in Belfast in October 2024, intended to last three-and-a-half years. Sihanoukville previously hosted the MS Westerdam in 2020 after it was turned away from other ports during the COVID-19 outbreak.