Crew of the 'endless cruise' claim they are 'held hostage' in Cambodia after retirees who sold homes were ordered off
Passengers aboard the Villa Vie Odyssey, whose founder Mikael Patterson has admitted he is the 'villain' of the story and says he is considering bankruptcy.A social-media announcement that the Villa Vie Odyssey had suspended operations, as crew members among the ship's 156-strong staff were also left unpaid amid the collapse.
Villa Vie Residences founder Mikael Petterson declared himself "the villain" as internal documents revealed a three-month scramble for cash before the Odyssey was stranded in Cambodia. The Florida-based operator gave 203 passengers as little as seven hours to disembark in Sihanoukville on Tuesday, with monthly fuel costs having rocketed from $1,800 to $8,000 per cabin after the US attacked Iran and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz collapsed. Paul and Lynn Montoya paid $450,000 in total; Melbourne retiree Frances Paroissien, 78, sold her home and business and now has nowhere to return to.
Crew members say passports are being withheld and temperatures in cabins have hit 43C with the air conditioning cut off.
Darrell Carp, who is out $250,000, said: 'There's no question that we ran out of money in Singapore.'
Residents were asked for a collective loan of $2.2 million to keep the ship moving — and say they never received the promised repayments.
