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More than 200 passengers, mostly Americans, are stranded successful Cambodia aft the relation of a luxury U.S. cruise vessel that was connected a continuous around-the-world voyage ran retired of wealth owed to skyrocketing substance costs.
Villa Vie Residences, the Florida-based relation of the MV Odyssey, said the warfare with Iran quadrupled substance costs and forced it to suspend operations connected Tuesday.
CEO Mikael Petterson told CBS News successful a telephone interrogation Wednesday that Villa Vie Residences was paying an mean of $700 a ton for substance earlier the warfare broke out successful precocious February. Since then, it has been paying anyplace from $2,000 to $3,000 per ton.
The Odyssey uses betwixt 700 and 800 tons per period successful fuel, Petterson disclosed.
"When you disagreement it implicit 300 radical connected board, it's conscionable backbreaking," Petterson told CBS News. "And this has been going connected for 9 months. We've tried to bash everything we tin do."
In a statement, Villa Vie Residences said the per compartment substance costs roseate from an mean of $1,800 per period earlier the warfare to betwixt $6,000 and $8,000.
The institution was unwilling to walk those rising costs connected to its passengers, Petterson said.
An aerial presumption shows the MV Odyssey docked astatine Sihanoukville larboard successful Preah Sihanouk state connected Oct. 28, 2026, successful Cambodia.
Suy Se /AFP via Getty Images
The Odyssey launched successful October 2024 for a continuous around-the-world journey. At the time, passengers could go residents of the vessel by purchasing a imperishable compartment for respective 100 1000 dollars. Some sold their homes to bash so. At the time, they were fixed a 15-year minimum warrant of residency aboard the Odyssey.
The Odyssey attempted to antagonistic the spiking substance prices by slowing down its itinerary and spending 5 oregon six days successful each larboard "hoping that things would travel to a adjacent successful the Middle East," Petterson said, but it wasn't enough.
"For us, erstwhile our monthly expenses spell up from $400,000 to $2 million, wherever are we going to get the $1.6 million?" Petterson asked.
The Villa Vie Residences CEO said that the vessel ran retired of wealth arsenic it searched for a fiscal partner, and the program is present to record for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
"We've borrowed money, we've stretched our payrolls arsenic acold arsenic we can, and we're astatine a constituent wherever it's conscionable astatine a breaking constituent wherever we request capitalization," Petterson said.
Passenger Benjamin Schatz thought the MV Odyssey would beryllium his everlastingly home.
"Honestly, close now, I'm successful denial and successful shock, and I'm heartbroken," Schatz, a retiree, told CBS News.
CBS News met Schatz successful April 2025 for a communicative featuring Villa Vie Residences. At that point, helium had been surviving connected the vessel for astir 1 year. On Wednesday, helium was fixed conscionable hours to battalion up his beingness and leave.
Said Schatz: "There are radical present who are stateless and who person precise small wealth and don't cognize what they're going to do."
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Cruise vessel passengers stranded aft relation says it ran retired of wealth owed to substance costs
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