Hundreds of passengers, including one with cancer, are stranded in Cambodia after the ship carrying them on a three-year, around-the-world cruise ran out of fuel.
Videos by Wide Open Country
The Cruise Set Sail Two Years Ago
As the New York Post reports, those 203 passengers are now homeless. Meanwhile, their cruise ship, the MV Odyssey, is in the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville after setting sail two years ago. Cambodian officials say most of the passengers are American. There are also 156 crew members aboard.
The passengers were promised a trip of a lifetime. They spent at least $130,000 to reserve a lifetime suite on a ship taking them on a luxurious voyage to all seven continents. But the ship's Florida-based operator, Villa Vie Residences, said it can no longer afford fuel costs. The company claims gas prices have quadrupled since the Iran war began.
Randy Cassingham, who has been receiving cancer treatment, said the operator "has done absolutely nothing to help" the ship's passengers find lodging. The blogger is now traveling to Thailand to meet with his doctors.
"I've taken two several-week breaks from the ship in Thailand for cancer treatment. Between drugs and radiation, I have very limited energy and stamina," he wrote. "It was easy to be on the ship where I could go and lie down in my own bed whenever needed; other kinds of travel are difficult."
The Company Was Running Out of Cash
Cassingham said Villa Vie has provided shuttles between the town and the ship. However, passengers have not been given "a list of hotels to choose from" or "offered to pay for that lodging."
Lanette Canen and Johan Bodin said that two months before the ship was forced to stop, the company told them it was running out of cash, they said in a YouTube video released this week. As a result, residents became "emotionally" exhausted as they argued over the best way to save the cruise.
Villa Vie founder Mikael Petterson told reporters that the ship's residents brushed aside the company's request that they pay an additional $500 plus a fuel surcharge to offset rising costs. The company was paying a $3 million monthly fuel bill. It is now considering a financial restructuring and seeking new funding over the next 60 days.
In a statement on Tuesday, Villa Vie said, "We have been unable to continue carrying the resulting operating losses. Passing the full increase on to residents is not a realistic solution. Our focus now is on supporting residents, crew, and employees... The company is working with residents to coordinate disembarkation and identify temporary living arrangements."
The company said it would not be paying for passengers' travel from Cambodia.
