Residents of the Vela VIE Odyssey cruise ship were told on November 1, 2026 that the lender now controls the vessel, which remains stuck in Cambodia and is expected to move to Singapore. Passengers had only the weekend to remove their belongings before access ended.
Mike Petterson, the company’s founder and executive chairman, said the situation is not necessarily final. “This is a 30- to 90-day process, and, during that process, we have time to get a restructure done,” Petterson said.
Belongings out before access ended
The lender has taken over the operational costs of the ship, along with responsibility to pay the crew, fuel, and safekeeping of the vessel. A message to residents said no sale has been scheduled, even as the ship could eventually be auctioned off in Singapore.
That leaves residents facing an immediate practical step: clear out what they can before the ship becomes inaccessible. The control shift does not put the vessel back in service for them, and it pushes the question of what happens to the ship into a separate process that now sits with the lender.
Joel Greiff in Kompat
Joel Greiff is one of the residents trying to adjust. He spent $350,000 on a cabin, paid an initial deposit in August 2025 and the remainder in May 2026, then lived on the ship for 26 days after moving in October.
Greiff said he got a message from the company in late July about its financial woes and later found a place to live in Kompat, Cambodia, for $200 a month. “I sell my RV on August 3rd and I'm like — oh,” he said, adding, “This is gonna fail. Every sign is there.”
Company effort falls short
The company had been trying to keep the ship afloat while residents weighed whether to put in more money. A group of residents tried to buy the ship from the company, but the effort failed after a lender denied them funding, even though 169 residents had pledged support.
Petterson said the company is still optimistic it can get the ship back if it finds an operational partner. “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,” he said. The next test is whether a funded plan appears soon enough to change who controls the vessel before any sale path advances.
