The captain of the Villa Vie Odyssey says the decision to make 203 residents leave the ship in Cambodia was “really painful,” after a severe fuel shortage disrupted their plans to live at sea.
The company suspended the vessel’s round-the-world trip earlier this week, saying sharply rising fuel costs had made it too expensive to keep operating. The ship reached Sihanoukville, Cambodia, about two years after departing Belfast, Northern Ireland, on a voyage planned to last three and a half years.
Some residents had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for a place aboard. In 2024, Villa Vie Residences offered lifetime access through its “Endless Horizons” program for a one-time fee of $299,999 for a single cabin or $499,999 for a double cabin.
Company founder and executive chairman Mikael Petterson said he felt responsible for finding a way forward for residents. He told Business Insider that, although he understood he might be seen as the villain, he was focused on helping them find a solution.
Captain Emanuele Giudice said the ship had to switch off a generator, a chiller and some nonessential lights because fuel supplies were critically low. Keeping those systems shut down, he said, would have made life aboard uncomfortable, so residents were asked to leave.
Giudice blamed high fuel prices for the disruption. He did not answer when asked whether the conflict in the Middle East or President Donald Trump was responsible.
The captain said residents had more than 24 hours to prepare to disembark. Some passengers, however, told The Associated Press they had only seven hours’ notice and were left to arrange their own accommodations.
Retired Wyoming couple Paul and Lynn Montoya said they had grown weary of repeated requests for additional money, including for fuel. Lynn said their hopes for the voyage had faded as the company’s financial troubles worsened.
Benjamin Schatz, who had planned to make the Odyssey his permanent home, told CBS News he was in shock and heartbroken. He said some former residents were now without housing, had little money and were unsure what to do next.
The company had promoted life aboard the Odyssey as an alternative to conventional retirement, particularly for people worried about inflation, rising living costs and outliving their savings. Petterson described the arrangement as a way to enjoy a lifetime of travel on a fixed budget, saying it could cost less than an average home.
