Odyssey cruise ship leaves Cambodia empty as fuel per cabin jumps from $1,800 to $6,000+ a month

The MV Odyssey, a U.S.-owned residential cruise ship, left the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville late Tuesday with only crew and other personnel aboard, Cambodian tourism official Tang Sochetkresna told the Associated Press. The Florida-based owner, Villa Vie Residences, had suspended a planned three-year world cruise because of sharply higher fuel costs. On Oct. 28 its 203 passengers were told to leave the ship within a few hours.

The numbers in the dispute

According to CBS News, Villa Vie says monthly fuel expense per cabin, historically about $1,800, has reached an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia because of the war in Iran. That is roughly 3.3 to 4.4 times the old figure. The company said it tried slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port to burn less fuel, but could not offset the increase. These are the company's figures; neither outlet independently audited them.

The ship has a 650-passenger capacity and carried 156 crew, though it is unclear how many sailed with it. Several passengers told CBS they paid more than $300,000 for a suite for the lifetime of the vessel. Passengers also said the company had asked them for months for extra contributions to keep the ship running, and CBS reviewed internal documents showing financial distress for at least three months before Cambodia.

Who controls the ship now

A message to residents obtained by CBS says the ship is under the control of its lender. Media reports say it is headed to Singapore, where it could eventually be auctioned, though Cambodian officials said they did not know its destination and there has been no official announcement. Villa Vie founder Mike Petterson told CBS the company is optimistic it can get the ship back if it finds an operating partner: "This is a 30- to 90-day process," he said.

About 100 passengers remained in Sihanoukville, Tang Sochetkresna said; others were touring Cambodia or had flown on. Most were American.

The fuel link, and where oil stands

CBS reports that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been curtailed since the war began, squeezing petroleum fuels, especially in Southeast Asia. Crude has since eased: Brent futures were near $94.7 on Yahoo Finance data we read Wednesday afternoon, about 20% below the Mar. 31 peak (see our oil report from earlier today). Neither outlet reported what the ship actually paid for fuel, so the crude price alone does not show what Villa Vie faced.

What travelers can take from it

• Anyone with money prepaid to a small cruise operator: ask in writing where deposits and any lifetime-suite payments are held, and what happens if the operator stops sailing. Keep contracts, receipts and every email asking for extra contributions.
• Booking a long voyage: check what your travel insurance says about the failure of a travel supplier. Policies differ, and many exclude it, so read the exclusions before paying.
• Mainstream cruise passengers: nothing in these reports involves the large cruise lines. This is a small operator with one ship, a planned second ship not yet bought and a business model built on residents paying for life.
• Former passengers in Cambodia: the U.S. State Department's travel.state.gov lists consular help for Americans abroad. The reports do not say what help, if any, the company has offered.

What we do not know

No court filing, regulator statement or lender statement was cited in the reports we read. Whether residents will get refunds, and whether the ship returns to service, is unanswered. We will update this story if the lender, the company or a regulator publishes anything.

Sources: Associated Press; CBS News; Yahoo Finance (Brent futures). Reuters, NBC News, BBC and CNBC also covered the departure; we cite only what we read from AP and CBS. This is travel and market information, not investment or legal advice.