Residents of Villa Vie Odyssey — which remains stuck in Cambodia — have been informed the cruise ship is now under control of its lender, according to a message sent to residents and obtained by CBS News.
The ship will soon be moved from Cambodia to Singapore, where it could eventually be auctioned off, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. Company leadership, however, said they’re optimistic they can get the ship back — if they find an operational partner.
“This is a 30- to 90-day process, and, during that process, we have time to get a restructure done,” Mike Petterson, the company’s founder and executive chairman, told CBS News.
Passengers had only the weekend to remove all of their belongings from the ship before it became inaccessible to them, as the lender took over the operational costs of the ship.
“They have now the responsibility to pay the crew, fuel and the operations of the vessel and safekeeping of the vessel,” Petterson said, stressing that they’re exploring options to keep the ship going. “They would be willing to work with a funded plan — they’re not out of negotiations — it’s not like you get your car repossessed and you can’t get it back.”
Some passengers expressed frustration with the company’s optimistic tone and worried it gave some residents a sense of “false hope.”
“The lender has taken possession of the ship, but that does not mean the Odyssey’s future has been decided,” the message to residents read, in part. “No sale has been scheduled. We believe there is time to bring forward a viable plan and are working to do that.”
An effort by a group of residents to buy the ship from the company also failed, after a lender denied them funding, according to sources who spoke with CBS News. The effort had received pledges from 169 residents who were willing to put more money into the project.
Internal communications reviewed by CBS News showed the ship was in financial distress for at least three months prior to Cambodia. Now, additional documents show that the company had a sense of urgency in getting more residents to provide even more funds.
During a meeting that took place in early August, the company wrote in an internal PowerPoint presentation: “A significant new line of inquiry is the need to distinguish actual inability to contribute from unwillingness to contribute further.”
Joel Greiff from Naples, Florida spent $350,000 on a cabin on board, but he spent just 26 days on the ship after moving into it in October. Greiff told CBS News he paid an initial deposit in August 2025 and paid the remainder in May 2026.
In late July, Greiff said he received a message from the company about its financial woes. At the time, the company was asking residents for more money to keep the ship afloat.
“I sell my RV on August 3rd and I’m like — oh,” Grief said. “This is gonna fail. Every sign is there.”
Since being kicked off the ship, he has found a place to live in Kompat, Cambodia.
“I went and found a place to stay for $200 a month. Beautiful place,” he said. “It’s right on the river. It’s what I wanted and what I needed.”
Greiff said he has come to terms with the fact that he may never see the money he invested in the ship again.
“I do not feel ill will, I just feel that they don’t know how to run a business whatsoever,” he said. “They might want to contemplate never running a business again.”
It is still unclear what will happen to the Odyssey next, but, prior to becoming stranded in Cambodia, Residential Cruise Holdings, the parent company of Villa Vie, was in the process of acquiring at least one additional cruise ship and working on two residential cruise projects.
“I don’t have any update on that,” said Petterson. “Our focus is 100% on the Odyssey. Villa Vie was entirely capitalized by the residents themselves. There is no stakeholder outside of the residents.”
A Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Villa Vie would cost the ship about $3 million for the first 60 days of the process, according to the message sent to residents.
“The plan we are pursuing is to support those operations through DIP financing and resident maintenance collections,” the message read. “The debt and legal issues are serious, but they do not erase the value of the ship, the resident community or the opportunity to build a stronger operating model. A structured transition with new capital and experienced operators can address the challenges and create a path forward.”
Petterson said the company is entirely owned by employees and residents, “so, when there is a financial need, residents are by definition the shareholders of the company and are naturally asked as shareholders to contribute.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: cbsnews.com
