The Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship, which received international attention after its ‘never-ending voyage’ came to an abrupt halt in Sihanoukville, has finally left Cambodia, albeit without its passengers.
The beleaguered vessel left Sihanoukville shortly after midnight today and is heading to Singapore, where it will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
It leaves behind around 200 passengers, who were evicted from the vessel on Saturday, after days of financial uncertainty.
Mike Petterson, the company’s founder and executive chairman, said earlier that “This is a 30- to 90-day process, and, during that process, we have time to get a restructure done”; however, the company remains optimistic that a solution can be found.
In addition, around 150 staff members are stranded in Cambodia without pay for over a month and previously experienced late payments.
Speaking to NBC, a worker from India said, “We were getting to know that the financial condition was not good. That’s why we are getting paid late.”
At the weekend, the lender took over the ship’s operational costs, and passengers were told to remove all their belongings from the ship before it became inaccessible.
“They now have the responsibility to pay the crew, fuel and the operations of the vessel and safekeeping of the vessel,” Petterson said.
“They would be willing to work with a funded plan; they’re not out of negotiations, it’s not like you get your car repossessed and you can’t get it back.”
A group of residents attempted to buy the ship from the company after a lender denied them funding, according to sources who spoke with CBS News.
The effort had received pledges from 169 residents who were willing to put more money into the project.
The Odyssey, a 24,344-gross-tonne vessel with eight decks and capacity for up to 650 residents, was marketed as a way to live at sea while circling the globe, with calls at more than 425 destinations in 147 countries and over 100 islands.
Cabin prices ranged from $59,000 to $439,000, along with monthly fees.
It left Belfast on October 3, 2024, to begin what the company called a continuous world voyage.
As recently as October 20, its published schedule still promoted a 3.5-year itinerary confirmed through to November next year, with a preliminary second circumnavigation running to August 2030.
That plan included a stay in Cambodia with stops in Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Seychelles, Madagascar and Africa.
