The Villa Vie Odyssey left Cambodia without passengers on Wednesday, Nov. 4, after its operator suspended the voyage over fuel costs, leaving about 100 passengers in the country, Reuters reported.
More than 200 paying passengers had left the vessel in Sihanoukville before it departed, Reuters said. The outlet reported that Villa Vie Residences attributed its late-October suspension to rising fuel prices linked to the Iran war, which it said had made the voyage too expensive to operate. EconoTimes previously covered the suspension of the Cambodia voyage. Reuters said the ship had been on a round-the-world cruise for at least 755 days.
Taing Sochitkrishna, head of Sihanoukville's tourism department, told Reuters that close to 100 passengers were still in Cambodia. He said most of the others had flown to destinations elsewhere in the region. Around 50 crew members were aboard when the ship sailed.
Mary Ann Demsar, a 67-year-old retired high school teacher from Ontario, Canada, told Reuters that Villa Vie's owners had not explained whether the voyage would continue. Passengers took their remaining belongings off the vessel on Tuesday, Nov. 3, Reuters reported.