Villa Vie’s residents should not have been its emergency fuel fund

In August, residents aboard Odyssey pooled money for fuel because Villa Vie Residences lacked the funds to get the ship out of Singapore, according to resident Kit Cassingham. Requests for more money kept coming. By October 28, 203 passengers had been ordered ashore in Cambodia.

That is a failure of the residential promise well before a court gets involved. I expect a company selling long-term life aboard a ship to keep it running without repeatedly asking the people living there to fund its departure.

Odyssey, which previously sailed as Braemar for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, has now been arrested in Singapore following Villa Vie’s financial collapse. Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority confirmed the detention Monday. The vessel was already under its lender’s control after the Florida-based operator fell behind on payments.

The arrest is the latest development. The repeated requests for fuel money tell us more about how precarious life aboard had already become.

Residents were being asked to cover the shortfall

Villa Vie attributed the voyage’s suspension to fuel-price increases associated with the US-Israel war with Iran. In its October 27 statement, the company estimated monthly fuel expenses per cabin in parts of Asia at $6,000 to $8,000, against a historical average of $1,800.

Those are substantial increases. The operator said it had slowed the itinerary and lengthened port stays to reduce consumption, but could no longer absorb the losses. Passing the full increase to residents was unrealistic, it said.

Yet residents had already been contributing additional money. Internal communications reviewed by CBS News showed financial strain stretching back at least three months before the suspension.

Resident Lynn Montoya said one appeal sought money to help the ship leave Cambodia. “We were tired of every two to four weeks being asked for money for fuel, money for everything,” she told The Associated Press. Her husband, Paul Montoya, said some residents had already left over itinerary changes, unreliable internet and deteriorating food quality.

For a residential voyage, that combination is especially damaging. Residents were being asked to put more money into an operation while the experience they had paid for was deteriorating, according to their accounts.

Kit Cassingham said she and her husband had paid approximately $370,000 to $380,000 for their cabin, plus $7,000 in monthly expenses. Joel Greiff told CBS News he had paid $350,000 and lived aboard for only 26 days after joining in October.

Seven hours to pack

Passengers were given seven hours to pack and leave Odyssey in Sihanoukville. Villa Vie said it was helping coordinate disembarkation and temporary accommodation. Residents disputed how much help actually materialised.

“They didn’t even give us a list of hotels, let alone help us get there or pay for them,” Randy Cassingham wrote on his website. The Associated Press could not immediately reach Villa Vie for comment on the complaints.

Odyssey left Sihanoukville without passengers on November 4. Cambodian Tourism Ministry spokesman Top Sopheak said approximately 98 former guests remained in the country that day, spread across Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kep, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. The ministry made a coordination team available to assist them.

The residential voyage began in Belfast in October 2024 after repeated technical and certification delays. Villa Vie offered cabin purchases and long-term occupancy alongside shorter rentals, with buyers able to stay beyond the initial three-and-a-half-year itinerary. An abrupt disembarkation could mean losing a place to live as well as a voyage.

The ship’s future is now in creditors’ hands

Singapore’s arrested-vessel register records the detention at 10:34 a.m. Sunday, Singapore time. Court records identify Helmsman LLC as the solicitor that sought the arrest, but do not name its client.

CBS News reported that Villa Vie owed a regional supplier approximately $500,000, without establishing whether that supplier initiated the arrest. The MPA gave no details of the underlying claim. Further legal proceedings or a judicial sale could follow.

The authority said Odyssey remained at anchor within the port with no passengers aboard. Crew were reported to be well, with creditors overseeing arrangements for their welfare.

Residents had also tried to secure the ship themselves. A resident-led purchase effort attracted financial pledges from 169 residents but failed after a lender declined funding, according to The Phnom Penh Post.

Before the arrest, founder and executive chairman Mikael Petterson told CBS News that Villa Vie was seeking an operating partner to regain the vessel. “This is a 30- to 90-day process, and, during that process, we have time to get a restructure done,” he said.

The company was still talking in terms of months to arrange a rescue. Its residents had been given seven hours to pack.