Around 200 passengers on a luxury residential cruise marketed as an endless voyage around the world have been stranded in Cambodia after soaring marine fuel costs forced the operator to suspend operations.
Villa Vie Residences said on Tuesday its 650-passenger vessel Odyssey, moored in the southern port of Sihanoukville, would halt its circumnavigation due to "extraordinary increases" in fuel costs.
The company is working with residents to coordinate disembarkation and identify temporary living arrangements, it said in a statement.
Founder Mikael Petterson said about 200 residents were on board when they were asked to disembark, and the company is covering lodging and local transportation but not flights out of Cambodia.
Villa Vie said monthly fuel costs per cabin had risen from about $1,800 to as much as $8,000 since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, a more than 300% increase that made its around-the-world voyage financially unsustainable.
The Odyssey left Belfast in October 2024 on a 3.5-year voyage billed to visit almost 150 countries. It was selling cabins for $130,000 to $440,000 for permanent residency.
The company said it will attempt to restructure and recapitalise over the next 60 days.
No comments:
Post a Comment