The Villa Vie Odyssey stopped in Cambodia because its operator, Villa Vie Residences, suspended operations over extraordinarily high fuel costs, leaving passengers to disembark in the port city of Sihanoukville.
The US-based company announced the suspension on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, more than 750 days into a continuous round-the-world voyage that left Belfast in October 2024. It said the monthly fuel cost per cabin in parts of Asia had risen to as much as $8,000, up from $1,800, as global fuel prices soared after the Iran war began earlier this year. Slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port did not offset the increase, and the company said passing the full cost on to residents was not realistic. About 200 passengers were reportedly aboard, and some told the BBC they were given until 2 p.m. the same day to leave. The company plans 60 days of restructuring and recapitalization but says no outcome is assured. The nearly 200-meter ship can carry up to 650 passengers, and its trip had been planned to last 3.5 years and visit nearly 150 countries.
Image: MS Villa Vie Odyssey. JerickVillaruel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.