The Villa Vie Odyssey cruise liner has suspended its around-the-world voyage due to a sharp rise in fuel costs. Around 200 passengers are to disembark in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville while the company seeks ways to stabilize its financial position. BBC reports, writes UNN
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The American operator of the vessel said it is currently arranging the passengers’ disembarkation and their "temporary accommodation." Their exact number has not been specified. The maximum capacity of the approximately 200-meter-long vessel is up to 650 passengers. According to available information, around 200 passengers were on board. They were ordered to go ashore in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville.
In October 2024, the liner departed from Belfast on a "continuous around-the-world voyage." Since then, global fuel prices have risen sharply due to the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran. According to the operator, in some regions of Asia, fuel costs per cabin increased from $1,800 to $8,000 per month.
The company said it had taken "significant measures to reduce fuel consumption, including by reducing sailing speed and increasing the amount of time spent in ports." However, these measures proved insufficient to "offset the extraordinary rise in fuel costs."
"Passing the entire burden of this price increase on to passengers is not a realistic solution," the company said.
Over the next 60 days, the company plans to undertake "restructuring and recapitalization," although, as management acknowledges, "the success of these measures is not guaranteed."
According to information on the website, the Villa Vie Odyssey’s around-the-world voyage was supposed to last three and a half years and cover nearly 150 countries. The departure was postponed several times due to repair work. As a result, passengers were "stuck" in Belfast for several months, and the company had already suffered multimillion-dollar losses at that point.
By this Tuesday, when the suspension of the around-the-world voyage was announced, the cruise had already been underway for more than 750 days.