Stranded

The cruise ship company, Villa Vie Residences, issued a statement explaining that it had to suspend operations because of the high cost of fuel in the wake of the Iran War

Hundreds of tourists claim to have been left stranded in Cambodia, after the company running their 15-year-long cruise around the world suddenly ‘suspended’ the trip.

Passengers aboard the Ville Vie Odyssey, owned by Florida-based Villa Vie Residences have been left abandoned in Sihanoukville in Cambodia, with ‘no help with accommodation or onward travel’, according to reports.

They claim that residents on the ship were given just seven hours’ notice to leave with all of their belongings after a ‘6.30am’ announcement on an internal message board, the Daily Mail has reported.

In an official statement, Villa Vie Residences blamed the high cost of fuel due to the Iran War for the decision. This has created ‘unsustainable financial pressure’, and the company will seek additional funding over the next 60 days.

On cruise discussion sites, residents and former residents slammed the ‘floating disaster’. One of the passengers who claims they were told to leave includes Californian Randy Cassingham, who writes about cruises. He was on board with his wife Kit, and wrote a post titled ‘Abandon Ship!’, the Daily Mail reports continue.

According to Cassingham, the news of the eviction arrived around 7am Eastern time on Monday, October 26. Posted on the internal messaging board by Villa Vie chief executive Kathy Villaba, it read: “Good morning, everyone.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to secure the fuel necessary to continue operations. As a result, the Odyssey will enter a temporary layup this afternoon, with crew remaining onboard to maintain the vessel and its essential systems. All residents must disembark by 2pm today.”

Anyone who was unable to remove all of their belongings had to speak to guest services and coordinate an ‘orderly return’ to take them away, the Daily Mail reports add.

Cassingham wrote that residents on the Odyssey had been ‘well aware of the problems’ on board and the announcement ‘didn’t come out of the blue’. He said it was a ‘cascade of problems piling up on one another, from the business model to mistakes by management to the mentioned crisis in fuel cost and availability, and more’.

Cassingham also slammed Villalba for failing to apologise and said: “She’s the freaking CEO, and couldn’t bring herself to say it’.”

The Daily Mail says the ship was launched in 2024, with the 720-capacity Villa Vie Odyssey promising a ‘new model of global living at sea’ by allowing residents to live on board for months or years at a time.

Shirene Thomas, who is from Madison, Wisconsin, wrote on Facebook that she had been left ‘homeless’ by Villa Vie stopping business, reports continue. “This time in Cambodia,” she said.

“Note that as per usual Villa Vie has put their spin on things; they are offering no help with lodging, travel arrangements or anything.”

According to Thomas, she was ‘evicted’ at 2pm on Monday. She wrote: “They told us at 6.30am!”

In the message to residents, Villaba said that was all the information they had at the time, but the following day Villa Vie put out a statement explaining the ‘temporary layup’ was far more serious.

A statement from the company reads: “Villa Vie Residences today announced that it has suspended operations in Cambodia as the company works to address extraordinary increases in fuel costs and evaluate restructuring and recapitalization alternatives.

“Fuel costs have risen sharply in the regions where the company has been operating. On an equivalent per-cabin basis, monthly fuel expense that historically averaged approximately $1,800 has recently reached an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia.

“The company cannot simply pass increases of that scale on to residents, and the resulting shortfall has placed its current operating model under unsustainable financial pressure.

“The company is working with residents to coordinate disembarkation and identify temporary living arrangements. Villa Vie Residences recognizes that this is a difficult and disruptive period for residents, crew members, and employees, and is working to support those affected as plans develop.

“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. Those measures have not been enough to offset the extraordinary increase in fuel costs, and we have been unable to continue carrying the resulting operating losses.

“Passing the full increase on to residents is not a realistic solution. Our focus now is on supporting residents, crew, and employees while we work toward restructuring and recapitalization over the next 60 days. That work is ongoing, and no outcome is assured.”

Villa Vie Residences says it “continues to evaluate potential paths forward, but no financing or transaction has been finalized”, and that “the company will provide further updates as material developments occur”.

On Facebook, crew members told how they were ‘heartbroken’ at the news including Lucas Clyne, said the Daily Mail. He wrote: “As a crew member of Villa Vie Residences, it hurts to see residents leaving the place they have called home.

“For many people, this is not just a ship or a place to live. It is a home filled with memories, friendships, laughter, and moments that have become part of our lives.”

The Mirror has approached Villa Vie for comment.

New Delhi, India – A 19-year-old woman was detained by police during the youth-led antigovernment protests in the Indian capital over the weekend.

The young woman, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of further reprisals from the authorities, said she was detained on Sunday as thousands of people congregated in central New Delhi. They were demanding the resignation of India’s Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls, which saw the removal of 133 million people from the voter lists.

After the woman’s detention, she and several other demonstrators were taken on a police bus to a location about 50km from the protest site. With no cash and her phone battery drained, the woman spent nearly an hour wandering along a dark road, trying to figure out what to do next.

A car pulled up and the driver asked if she needed any help.

“I was frightened and completely lost. When those volunteers finally helped me get back safely, it felt like a miracle. I had never imagined that someone I had never met would come forward to help me like that,” she told Al Jazeera.

For a young woman in New Delhi, notoriously referred to as the “rape capital of India”, being alone in the middle of the night and getting into a car with strangers is not an easy decision. The city records an average of three rapes a day.

But the young protester said she immediately recognised one of the volunteers in the car. She had seen his videos online, in which he had asked the detained protesters whether they needed help. Recognising a familiar face reassured her that the people offering the ride could be trusted.

The woman was rescued using an AI-assisted tool developed by 25-year-old Rajiv Choudhary, who is helping protesters get home safely after being detained and dropped off by the police far away.

Called the Detainee Gharwapsi Yojana, the initiative combines a digital dashboard with a network of volunteers who track information about police buses carrying detainees and arrange transport for those left stranded.

“Gharwapsi” in Hindi means “to return home”. It is also a play on a campaign by India’s right-wing Hindu groups which want to bring the country’s Muslims and Christians back into the Hindu fold, claiming that their ancestors converted to “foreign” religions from Hinduism. “Yojana” means a plan.

Since the beginning of this month, India has seen near daily protests over alleged electoral fraud by Kumar and his commission. Led by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a number of left-leaning student groups as well as the main opposition Congress party, the protests have seen tens of thousands of people hitting the streets in New Delhi and other cities.

In response, authorities in the Indian capital have imposed a sweeping crackdown, blocking roads, closing metro stations and detaining thousands as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government faces the biggest challenge to its power after 12 years of rule.

Choudhary said his network’s primary focus was to help minors, elderly people and women, mainly first-time protesters.

The initiative operates through a private digital dashboard that uses AI-assisted data processing, live mapping and information shared by volunteers on the ground. Volunteers send details, including police bus numbers and locations, through WhatsApp, helping the team coordinate assistance and rides home.

Choudhary said he and his associate, journalist Meghnad, who goes by a single name, initially worked with a small group of volunteers to connect detainees with transport, legal assistance and medical support. The network has since expanded to more than 130 volunteers, who have offered their time and resources to assist detained demonstrators.

“For people caught up in these demonstrations, the ordeal doesn’t end with detention. They can be taken far from the protest site and left trying to find their way home from unfamiliar locations, often struggling to contact friends or arrange transport,” he said.

The idea grew out of Choudhary’s experience during an earlier protest called by the CJP at Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site in New Delhi that has now been denotified by the authorities. Initially, he helped organise supplies and volunteers.

As demonstrations continued, he recognised that protesters needed more systemic support, particularly those who were detained by the police and left fending for themselves far from the city limits.

As renewed protests began on October 2 , Choudhary built a digital system around the same volunteer network using AI tools. It began with a simple spreadsheet.

“The whole aim behind the application was that I had to systemise things that are not systemised,” he said. “We just wanted to become a support system that could help our people in their fight for their demands.”

Choudhary recalled receiving a distress call from a woman who had been detained in central New Delhi and released on the outskirts of the city. Stranded alone near a railway station, with metro services shut and no clear way to get home, she was frightened and unsure which way to turn.

She reached out to Choudhary’s network for help and he arranged for a nearby female driver to take her home safely. “It is heartbreaking to see people left helpless in an unfamiliar city, frightened and unsure of how they will get home,” he said.

For now, the Detainee Gharwapsi Yojana operates only in New Delhi, but Choudhary plans to expand it to other cities.

“I am overwhelmed by the response from volunteers and drivers who have come forward to help without charging anything. They are offering their services for free because they want to support the protesters,” he said.

The 19-year-old woman who was helped by Choudhary’s team described the initiative as “a lifeline for protesters”. She said the team not only arranged her return, but also offered reassurance and emotional support.

“I cannot thank them enough. As long as we have people like them in our society, no authority can stop us from demanding our rights and protesting peacefully,” she said.

Rescue operation underway after flash floods swept away home, bridges and parts of the Manaslu trekking trail.

More than 100 foreign trekkers have been stranded in central Nepal, according to a local official, a day after flash floods in the Gorkha district washed away bridges, hiking trails and hundreds of homes.

Bhuwan Raj Ojha, an official of the Manaslu Conservation Area Project, told the Reuters news agency on Monday that the trekkers were stranded in different areas of the popular Manaslu trekking trail because part of the route had been swept away.

“Those hikers who want to return because of the flood need to be rescued. Those who ⁠want to continue their trekking can do so from locations that are safe,” he told Reuters from Gorkha.

“There are ⁠restaurants and tea houses along the route. They are ⁠safe”.

The flash floods hit on Sunday, when a predawn landslide blocked the Budhi Gandaki River in the Gorkha district, about 100km (62 miles) west of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.

Authorities ⁠rescued 321 people, including 12 foreigners, on Monday, and the army said the rescue operation would continue on Tuesday, even as the water level in the river receded.

The river is a tributary of the Trishuli River, downstream from another tributary where a ‌glacier collapse caused a catastrophic flood in August that killed 1,457 people, with thousands still missing.

There were no reports of deaths in the latest flood, but five villagers were out of contact after black muddy sludge and debris washed away more than 200 homes and damaged infrastructure, including three hydroelectric plants, national disaster authorities said.

Md Shahadat Hossain, a Bangladeshi trekker stranded in Jagat village, told the Anadolu news agency that nine Bangladeshis were waiting for a possible evacuation by helicopter.

“We have been stranded in Jagat since yesterday. A flash flood came down from above the village and flowed through its lower part,” he said.

“We are safe, but there has been no electricity since yesterday, communication with the outside world has been disrupted, and food supplies are gradually running short,” he added.

Gorkha district authorities have asked villagers living along the riverbanks downstream to evacuate.

National disaster authorities had also alerted people living along the river in the Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, East Nawalparasi and West Nawalparasi districts about the flood.