Over 200 residents evicted from cruise ship they paid up to W600m to call home

A restaurant aboard a cruise ship with an ocean view. This image is unrelated to the article. [123RF]

Passengers who paid up to around 600 million won to secure a permanent ocean-view home aboard a cruise ship have been told to pack their bags and leave immediately. The abrupt eviction unfolded on an American cruise vessel that marketed itself as a "home on the sea" for a round-the-world voyage.

Authorities in Cambodia's southern Preah Sihanouk province said Wednesday (local time) that the cruise ship Odyssey, docked at Sihanoukville port, had notified passengers to pack their belongings and disembark, Yonhap reported.

The vessel ceased operations in Cambodia after accumulating losses driven largely by surging fuel costs, leaving more than 200 passengers effectively stripped of their home and forced off the ship, authorities added.

The Odyssey had originally carried 203 passengers — most of them American — and 156 crew members.

Some of the displaced passengers have since boarded flights back to their home countries or other destinations, while the rest remain in Sihanoukville.

"The sudden disembarkation order has left many retirees and remote workers stranded thousands of kilometers from home," Preah Sihanouk province Deputy Governor Long Dimanche said.

Villa Vie Residences, the Florida-based operator of the cruise, said in a statement that it could "no longer sustain operating losses" and was "focused on restructuring while supporting residents, crew and staff."

The company said fuel costs, which it attributed to the Middle East war, had surged from an average of about $1,800 per cabin per month to between $6,000 and $8,000 in Asian waters, making it impossible to continue operations.

A cruise ship at sea. This image is unrelated to the article. [123RF]

The company had originally marketed the Odyssey as passengers' "permanent home."

It recruited passengers by selling or leasing cabins for lifetime residency.

Permanent residency cabins were priced from around $130,000 to $440,000, with the most expensive units approaching 600 million won, and passengers were charged an additional $2,000 to $10,000 per month on top of that.

Passenger Johan Bodin said in a YouTube video that the Odyssey gave passengers only six hours to pack before ordering them off the ship, and that his wife was deeply upset by the situation.

Bodin said he and his wife had hoped to live aboard the ship for more than 15 years, and expressed concern for passengers who had recently joined or invested retirement savings in the venture.

Middle East war cited as cause — and may reignite

US President Donald Trump [Getty Images]

Meanwhile, analysts warn that the Middle East war — cited as a key driver of the cruise operator's financial troubles — could flare up again after the US midterm elections and Israeli general election.

The Financial Times, BBC and other international outlets reported Monday (local time) that regardless of the outcome of the Israeli general election and the US midterm elections on Tuesday, the Middle East conflict could reignite.

Some observers have suggested that Donald Trump could move more aggressively to strike Iran after the midterms.

The Financial Times reported that Trump has been unable to accept that military operations have failed, and that a defeat at the polls could intensify his desire to project strength — potentially manifesting as airstrikes against Iran.

A Western diplomat told the BBC that once the midterms are over, Trump will focus on building a political legacy for after his term, adding that Trump would want "to take the lead on everything except the domestic quagmire."

A resumption of war with Iran could plunge the Middle East into renewed turmoil, with significant potential ripple effects on the global economy.

Iran has managed to preserve its government despite losing much of its leadership to US and Israeli strikes that began in February, and has sought to leverage control over the Strait of Hormuz to dominate the flow of international energy. The Financial Times said that even if the US and Israel intensify their offensive, the chances of achieving regime change in Iran or extracting significant concessions remain slim.

Should Iran strike back hard — mobilizing proxy forces and broadening its targets to Gulf states including Saudi Arabia — the secondary impact on international energy prices and the global economy could be substantial.

yul@heraldcorp.com