Shipping company stops endless cruise – more than 200 passengers stranded in Cambodia

More than 200 passengers from the cruise ship “Odyssey” are stranded in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville. The operators only gave the guests seven hours to pack their things and leave the ship, said Deputy Provincial Governor Long Dimanche on Wednesday.

This means that numerous pensioners have now been left homeless “thousands of miles from their home countries,” complained Dimanche. According to him, there were a total of 203 passengers and 156 crew members on board. The ship was supposed to continue to Vietnam after a several-day stop in Cambodia.

The cruise operator Villa Vie Residences surprisingly announced on Tuesday that it had “discontinued its activities in Cambodia”. The reason is the extremely high diesel prices as a result of the Iran war.

According to the company, monthly fuel costs rose from an average of 1,600 euros to between 5,400 and 7,200 euros per cabin. “The company cannot simply pass on price increases of this magnitude to the residents,” explained the shipping company. The “current operating model” has therefore come under “unbearable financial pressure”.

The “Odyssey” set off from Belfast, Northern Ireland, in October 2024 on a journey around the world that, according to the operator’s promise, would last indefinitely. Guests could rent or purchase cabins for vacation tours or for life. Some sold their belongings and moved their lives permanently to the ship.

Passenger Randy Cassingham wrote in his cruise blog that the request to leave the ship was preceded by a “cascade of problems.” The start of the long-term cruise was delayed by four months. The ship never reached its maximum capacity of 650 paying guests; a maximum of 350 passengers were on board. Most recently, the company “begged” residents for money.

Cassingham accuses the company of doing “absolutely nothing” to help those stranded. The shipping company spoke of a “difficult and worrying time for residents, crew members and employees” of the ship. They are working to help those affected “while the plans develop”.