The founder of the ill-fated 'endless cruise' that dumped its passengers in Cambodia this week has cast himself as the 'villain' and apologised for the collapse of the voyage.
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that → fat → voyage
Around 200 passengers were given just seven hours to pack their bags and leave a scheduled stop in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, after operator Villa Vie Residences announced it had 'suspended operations'.
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it → give → operations
The 200m (656ft) Odyssey left Northern Ireland in October 2024 for a continuous voyage.
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Odyssey → leave → voyage
Residents could rent cabins for a holiday or buy for life at a cost of up to $440,000 (£330,000), with some passengers selling everything they owned to cover it.
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they → rent → it
Mikael Petterson, who launched the company in 2023, has since spoken out.
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who → launch → 2023
'I feel awful,' he said on Wednesday.
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he → feel → Wednesday
'I'm the villain in the story, but I'm doing everything I can to support the residents on a solution.
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I → do → solution
This comes as passengers have shared the turmoil they have endured, saying the company has effectively dumped them in Cambodia with no assistance or communication.
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company → come → assistance
Villa Vie cited surging oil prices resulting from the conflict in the Middle East as the reason behind its ill fate, saying the journey could not carry on with their current budget.
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journey → cite → budget
The company said in a statement this week that per-cabin monthly fuel expenses had gone from an average of $1,800 (£1,354) to an estimated $6,000 (£4,516) to $8,000 (£6,021) in parts of Asia.
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expenses → say → Asia
A drone view of the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship docking at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, Cambodia
CEO of Villa Vie Residences Mikael Petterson spoke with passengers as they prepared to board the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship at Belfast Port's Cruise Ship Terminal in September 2024
Passengers pictured disembarking the Odyssey on Wednesday after it was docked at Sihanoukville port in Preah Sihanouk province in Cambodia
This, Mr Petterson said, had a 'cascading effect' on the sustainability of the cruise.
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Petterson → dock → cruise
He placed blame on US President Donald Trump's decision to strike Iran in February, which has sent oil prices skyrocketing due to the disruption to supply routes, dwindling supplies and destroyed energy infrastructure.
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which → place → routes
'Nobody that's tried residential cruising has succeeded and we have gone further than anyone else,' he told the Axel Springer Reporters Network.
'
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he → try → Network
But I think we would have been absolutely fine and we would have seen this through, if there was no Iran war.'
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we → think → this
The founder claimed he was in talks with a potential investor and had been waiting for a cash injection before the plans folded, which left the company with no viable option for its survival.
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which → claim → survival
This came after the company repeatedly asked passengers for more money during the trip to cover oil prices, including the request for a collective loan of $2.2million (£1.6million) in April.
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company → come → April
The money for which has not been returned, passengers told the Daily Mail.
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passengers → return → Mail
'We have not received any payments,' Lynn Montoya told the Mail.
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Montoya → receive → Mail
'On July 31, they told us we would get a payment in the next three days.
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we → tell → days
But two days after we were told there was no money.'
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we → tell → ?
Former permanent residents of the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship returned to the vessel on Thursday to collect their belongings after being forced to disembark in Cambodia
Paul Montoya and his wife Lynn described 'investing in a dream' when they chose to dedicate at least four years of their lives to travel the world on cruise ship the Odyssey
Despite already handing over millions of dollars, the company called on the residents – and their retirement savings – again a few months later.
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company → return → residents
'Residents started donating to keep us on our journey
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Residents → donate → journey
,' Mrs Montoya said.
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Montoya → say → ?
'In September, the company asked for $1.5million (£1.1million) and then $360,000 (£270,049) this past week while we've been stranded in Cambodia.
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we → ask → Cambodia
The grandmother believes the requests for money were strategic and came when the ship was docked at different ports, leaving the residents to feel vulnerable and 'coerced' into giving up their money.
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ship → believe → money
'We felt manipulated and when that happened time after time, it began to wear us down and frustrate us,' Mrs Montoya, who sold the couple's house to fund the trip, said.
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who → feel → trip
'We'd arrive at the port and six hours before we were meant to leave they would say, "Oh, we can't leave.
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we → arrive → port
We haven't got the money".
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We → get → money
'Everybody then felt pressured to come up with these funds.
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Everybody → pressure → funds
We joked that we felt we were being held captive.'
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we → joke → ?
Questions naturally began to arise as conditions on the ship began to deteriorate, despite donations having been made specifically to pay for fuel.
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donations → begin → fuel
'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 in a statement.
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it → pass → statement
Villa Vie asked 22 residents for a collective loan of $2.2million (£1.6million), Mrs Montoya said
'It started becoming apparent that the company is in significant debt - and we started losing a lot of our services,' Mrs Montoya described.
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Montoya → ask → services
She added: 'Our internet was interrupted several times so we weren't able to check our bank accounts or pay bills, or call home.
'
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we → add → home
Our TV service then went down and so more questions started being asked.
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questions → go → ?
But despite this the company asked us again for money for fuel.'
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company → ask → fuel
Meanwhile, food quality deteriorated and crew members started disclosing to residents that their payments had been stalled.
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payments → deteriorate → residents
This prompted residents to again shell out, although this time voluntarily, to financially support crew members 'whose pay began being affected in August'.
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pay → prompt → August
'We were able to give 128 crew members at least $100 (£75) each,' Mrs Montoya said.
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Montoya → give → 100
The turmoil came to a head this week when the hundreds of travellers were given just hours to pack their bags and disembark.
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hundreds → come → bags
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
