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A ship that promised passengers a years-long voyage around the world has been seized in Singapore waters, weeks after its US-based operator abandoned roughly 200 guests at a Cambodian port and suspended operations.
Singapore’s port authority confirmed that the Odyssey has been anchored in the port and placed under arrest pursuant to a court order. Singapore law firm Helmsman LLC has been named the arresting solicitor, though the authority did not identify which creditor the firm represents. “Arrangements for their welfare and wellbeing are being managed by the vessel’s creditors,” the authority said, adding that crew members on board were reported to be well.
The Odyssey departed Belfast in October 2024 under the banner of Villa Vie Residences, a US-based company that marketed the ship as a floating home capable of visiting 150 countries over three and a half years. Passengers could buy a cabin outright, take out a five-year residency or rent space for shorter tours. Permanent residencies were priced between $120,000 and $440,000, with monthly rentals starting at $3,500. “For roughly the price of a car, you can own your home on a ship that travels the world,” founder Mikael Petterson had said in promotional material.
The voyage was troubled from the outset. Its departure was delayed four months because of repairs and paperwork. While the ship was in Vietnam, crew members reportedly bought food from local grocery stores after the company fell behind on payments to a supplier who refused to make further deliveries, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner. In August, when the Odyssey made an earlier call at Singapore, the operator warned passengers of its financial difficulties and asked guests to contribute funds to keep the cruise running — and acknowledged at that point the risk of the vessel being detained.
Passenger Holly Hennessey told the BBC that guests had been asked to consider paying a fuel surcharge as energy prices climbed and that the ship’s itinerary had been “severely curtailed.”
The company cited the Iran war as the trigger for a sharp rise in fuel costs. In a statement dated 27 October, Villa Vie Residences said monthly fuel costs per cabin in parts of Asia had surged to as much as $8,000 from $1,800. It said it had taken “significant steps to reduce fuel consumption” but that those measures were insufficient to offset what it called “extraordinary increases in fuel costs.” The company said it was working with residents to “identify temporary living arrangements” while the ship was docked in Sihanoukville, Cambodia’s main port city, where the roughly 200 guests were told to disembark.
The Odyssey subsequently sailed back to Singapore, where it now sits under court-ordered arrest. The seizure marks a formal legal escalation in what had already become a public financial collapse, leaving creditors, former passengers and remaining crew to navigate the vessel’s uncertain future.