‘Abandon ship’: 200 ‘Cruise for life’ passengers stranded in Cambodia after company runs out of money

SIHANOUKVILLE, Oct 28 — Around 200 passengers who paid to live on a cruise ship while travelling the world were abruptly left in a Cambodian port after the company ran out of money, an official said today.

US-based operator Villa Vie Residences announced yesterday it had “suspended operations in Cambodia” as it worked to address “extraordinary increases” in fuel costs following the Iran war.

The 200-metre Odyssey left Northern Ireland in October 2024 for a continuous voyage for which residents could buy or rent rooms for a holiday or for life — some passengers selling everything they had to pay for it.

However, passengers were given just seven hours to pack their bags and leave during a scheduled stop in the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville, according to Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk province.

He said in a statement 203 guests and 156 crew had arrived aboard the Bahamas-flagged ship from Thailand on October 23, and had been due to go on to Vietnam.

“The sudden order to disembark has left many retirees and remote workers homeless thousands of miles from their home countries,” he said.

Some passengers took flights out while others remained in the city, he said, adding that the ship itself was due to refuel and leave on October 31.

Randy Cassingham, a passenger on board who runs a cruise blog, wrote that the disembarkation order followed a “cascade of problems”.

Under a post entitled “Abandon Ship!”, he said its Belfast launch was delayed by four months, while the ship never reached its capacity of 650 residents, peaking at around 350.

He said it was not a “luxury” ship but affordable — until the company started “begging for money”.

Villa Vie said in its statement per-cabin monthly fuel expenses had gone from an average of US$1,800 (RM7,348) to an estimated US$6,000 to US$8,000 in parts of Asia.

“The company cannot simply pass increases of that scale on to residents, and the resulting shortfall has placed its current operating model under unsustainable financial pressure,” it said.

Cassingham accused the company of doing “absolutely nothing to help” stranded passengers.

Villa Vie said it was “working with residents to coordinate disembarkation and identify temporary living arrangements”.

“Villa Vie Residences recognises that this is a difficult and disruptive period for residents, crew members, and employees, and is working to support those affected as plans develop,” it said. — AFP

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西哈努克城，10 月 28 日——一位官员今天表示，约 200 名付费乘坐游轮环游世界的乘客，在游轮公司资金耗尽后，被突然遗弃在柬埔寨的一个港口。

总部位于美国的运营商 Villa Vie Residences 昨天宣布，由于伊朗战争后燃料成本“异常上涨”，该公司已“暂停在柬埔寨的运营”。

200 米长的奥德赛号于 2024 年 10 月从北爱尔兰出发，开始了不间断的航行。当地居民可以购买或租赁船上的房间，用于度假或长期居住——一些乘客甚至卖掉了所有家当来支付这笔费用。

然而，据西哈努克省副省长隆迪曼奇称，在柬埔寨西哈努克港的预定停靠期间，乘客只有 7 个小时的时间收拾行李离开。

他在一份声明中表示，10 月 23 日，这艘悬挂巴哈马国旗的船只从泰国抵达，船上载有 203 名乘客和 156 名船员，原计划前往越南。

他说：“突然下令下船，导致许多退休人员和远程办公人员无家可归，他们远在离家乡数千英里之外的地方。”

他说，一些乘客乘飞机离开，而另一些乘客则留在城里；他还补充说，这艘船原定于 10 月 31 日加油并离开。

船上乘客兰迪·卡辛厄姆（Randy Cassingham）经营着一个邮轮博客，他写道，下船令是在“一系列问题”之后发布的。

在一篇题为“弃船！”的帖子中，他表示该船在贝尔法斯特的下水被推迟了四个月，而且该船从未达到 650 名居民的容量，最多时也只有 350 人左右。

他说这艘船虽然不是“豪华”船，但价格适中——直到该公司开始“乞求资金”。

Villa Vie 在声明中表示，亚洲部分地区的每间小木屋每月燃油费用已从平均 1,800 美元（7,348 令吉）上涨至估计的 6,000 美元至 8,000 美元。

“该公司不能简单地将如此大规模的增长转嫁给居民，由此造成的资金缺口使其目前的运营模式面临不可持续的财务压力，”声明中写道。

卡辛​​厄姆指责该公司“完全没有采取任何措施来帮助”滞留乘客。

Villa Vie表示，他们正在“与居民合作，协调下船事宜并确定临时居住安排”。

Villa Vie Residences表示：“我们意识到，对于住户、工作人员和员工来说，这是一个艰难且充满不便的时期，我们正在努力为受影响的人员提供支持，并制定相应的计划。”——法新社

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