Floating Home Scheme Sinks: Villa Vie Odyssey Leaves 203 Residents Behind

A cruise ship sold as a "forever home" to more than 200 residents sailed out of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on Wednesday with only crew aboard. The Villa Vie Odyssey's lender has taken possession of the vessel and is now covering the crew's pay, fuel, and upkeep, according to Travel Weekly Asia.

Florida-based Villa Vie Residences blames fuel. The company said its monthly fuel cost per cabin climbed from $1,800 to between $6,000 and $8,000 after the Iran war sent oil prices soaring. Passing that full increase on to residents, the company said, was not realistic. Villa Vie sold years of life at sea at a fixed price — and its biggest variable cost more than tripled.

A Cambodian official put the count at 203 passengers and 156 crew, with most residents American. The ship is reportedly bound for Singapore, where Cruise Radio reports it could eventually go to auction.

What did residents actually buy?

The 642-foot Odyssey was built for people who planned to stay years, not weeks. Mechanical problems had kept it in Belfast, Northern Ireland, until October 2024, when it finally departed on a voyage meant to circle the globe every three and a half years, hitting 147 countries on the first loop. A four-year stay cost $319,998 for two people sharing a cabin — roughly $80,000 a year, all-in.

For some, it was a lifetime bet. The company's Endless Horizons program charged a one-time $299,999 for a single cabin or $499,999 for a double. When Fortune covered the launch in 2023, Villa Vie was selling cabins from $99,000, plus annual fees of $21,000 to $48,000. Some residents sold their houses to move aboard.

The collapse came fast. As recently as July, the company announced a second ship, Legacy, saying the Odyssey had sold 85% of its residences. Then on Oct. 27, residents were told they had roughly eight hours to leave — 754 days into the planned voyage.

"Since the conflict began in late February, we have taken significant steps to reduce fuel consumption, including slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port," the company said in a statement the week it halted operations. It wasn't enough.

Who lost the most?

Lanette Canen and Johan Bodin, both 56, were longtime Maui residents who bought into the idea of seeing the world from a residential cruise ship. What surprised them most was how much cheaper life at sea could be: no car or mortgage payments, meals included, laundry handled. They sold their business, moved aboard, and started a YouTube channel, Living Life on a Cruise, which now has more than 55,000 subscribers.

In their final vlog from the ship, the couple said they first heard about the company's financial trouble two months before they were told to leave. The waiting made the dream "emotionally exhausting."

"I felt really drained the last two months … you get beat down, and then the next day or two, like: oh boy, we have hope, we have investors, we have this coming, and then the next two days, you get beat down again," Bodin said.

The couple says they're not in dire financial straits and plan to keep traveling through Southeast Asia. But they know residents who put their life savings and retirement funds into the ship — and now don't know what comes next.

Is the founder right that the war sank it?

Founder and executive chairman Mikael Petterson has taken responsibility, calling himself "the villain in the story" in an interview with Business Insider. He still maintains the Iran war is what sank the business.

"I think we would have been absolutely fine and we would have seen this through, if there was no Iran war," Petterson said.

The macro numbers back him up — partially. Before U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28, Brent crude traded around $70 a barrel. It has since repeatedly broken $100, topping $126 this spring. Crude has slipped back below $100, but regular gasoline still averaged $4.10 a gallon on Nov. 4, according to AAA.

U.S. consumers paid $160 billion more for gasoline and diesel from March 1 through Oct. 14 than they would have without the war, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air — the largest bill of any country, Fortune reported. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, estimated in mid-October that the war has cost the average American household nearly $2,000. About $1,100 of that comes from higher energy prices; the rest from higher interest rates and military operations.

What happens next?

Villa Vie has given itself about 60 days to restructure and raise new money. The company says no outcome is assured, and Petterson has told NBC News that a Chapter 11 filing may be necessary. For the 203 residents, the practical question is recovery: whether an auction in Singapore returns anything on cabins that cost as much as a house.