The founder of the ill-fated 'endless cruise' that dumped its passengers in Cambodia this week has cast himself as the 'villain' and apologised for the collapse of the voyage. 

Around 200 passengers were given just seven hours to pack their bags and leave a scheduled stop in Sihanoukville after operator Villa Vie Residences announced it had 'suspended operations'. 

The 200m (656ft) Odyssey left Northern Ireland in October 2024 for a continuous voyage. Residents could rent cabins for a holiday or buy for life at a cost of up to $440,000 (£330,000), with some passengers selling everything they owned to cover it.

Mikael Petterson, who launched the company in 2023, has since spoken out. 

'I feel awful,' he said on Wednesday. 'I'm the villain in the story, but I'm doing everything I can to support the residents on a solution.'

Mr Petterson's remarks came as passengers shared the turmoil they have endured, saying the company has effectively dumped them in Cambodia with no assistance or communication. 

Villa Vie cited surging oil prices resulting from the conflict in the Middle East as the reason behind the failed voyage, saying the journey could not carry on with their current budget. 

The company said in a statement this week that per-cabin monthly fuel expenses had gone from an average of $1,800 (£1,354) to an estimated $6,000 (£4,516) to $8,000 (£6,021) in parts of Asia. 

This, Mr Petterson said, had a 'cascading effect' on the sustainability of the cruise.

He placed blame on US President Donald Trump's decision to strike Iran in February, which has sent oil prices skyrocketing due to the disruption to supply routes, dwindling provisions and destroyed energy infrastructure. 

'Nobody that's tried residential cruising has succeeded and we have gone further than anyone else,' he told the Axel Springer Reporters Network. 'But I think we would have been absolutely fine and we would have seen this through, if there was no Iran war.'

The founder claimed he was in talks with a potential investor and had been waiting for a cash injection before the plans folded, which left the company with no viable option for its survival. 

This came after the company repeatedly asked passengers for more money during the trip to cover oil prices, including the request for a collective loan of $2.2million (£1.6million) in April. 

The money for which has not been returned, passengers told the Daily Mail. 

'We have not received any payments,' Lynn Montoya told the Mail. 'On July 31, they told us we would get a payment in the next three days. But two days after we were told there was no money.'

Despite already handing over millions of dollars, the company called on the residents – and their retirement savings – again a few months later.

'Residents started donating to keep us on our journey,' Mrs Montoya said. 'In September, the company asked for $1.5million (£1.1million) and then $360,000 (£270,049) this past week while we've been stranded in Cambodia.'

The grandmother believes the requests for money were strategic and came when the ship was docked at different ports, leaving the residents to feel vulnerable and 'coerced' into giving up their money.

'We felt manipulated and when that happened time after time, it began to wear us down and frustrate us,' Mrs Montoya, who sold the couple's house to fund the trip, said.

'We'd arrive at the port and six hours before we were meant to leave they would say, "Oh, we can't leave. We haven't got the money."

'Everybody then felt pressured to come up with these funds. We joked that we felt we were being held captive.'

Questions naturally began to arise as conditions on the ship began to deteriorate, despite donations having been made specifically to pay for fuel. 

'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,' it said in a statement.

'It started becoming apparent that the company is in significant debt – and we started losing a lot of our services,' Mrs Montoya described.

She added: 'Our internet was interrupted several times so we weren't able to check our bank accounts or pay bills, or call home.

'Our TV service then went down and so more questions started being asked. But despite this the company asked us again for money for fuel.'

Meanwhile, food quality deteriorated and crew members started disclosing to residents that their payments had been stalled.

This prompted residents to again shell out, although this time voluntarily, to financially support crew members 'whose pay began being affected in August'.

'We were able to give 128 crew members at least $100 (£75) each,' Mrs Montoya said.

The turmoil came to a head this week when the hundreds of travellers were given just hours to pack their bags and disembark.

According to Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk province in Cambodia, 203 guests and 156 crew had arrived at the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville, where they were left behind by the cruise.

This came after the company asked for more money and received a further $360,000 (£270,049), the grandmother said – but the majority of residents declined to donate.

'Most people said no, we will not give you anymore money,' Mrs Montoya said. 'We're not going to do it.

'I honestly believe that they believed people would give up their money again and they would just continue this.'

Permanent residencies on the cruise cost between $120,000 (£90,000) and $440,000 (£330,000), with cabins costing £3,500 per month to rent.

The request for money was followed by an official notice at 8am on Tuesday telling the travellers to disembark, which they must do by 2pm.

'We were unsure whether we needed to take everything or just an overnight bag. We were told our cabins would be double locked so we packed enough supplies for 14 days,' Mrs Montoya said.

'But some people walked off the ship with 12 pieces of luggage.'

The group of around 200 stranded residents were then shuttled off in groups and dumped in the centre of town.

Villa Vie said it was 'working with residents to co-ordinate disembarkation and identify temporary living arrangements'. 

Mr Petterson acknowledged the current doomed situation his clients are in, who had  been promised an endless cruise with stops at more than 400 ports and an 'around-the-world' trip every three and a half years.

The founder admitted to Business Insider they were 'counting on me to make the decision here, and there's nothing else I'm focused on'. 

READ MORE: Inside the 'never-ending cruise' that dumped its passengers in Cambodia: 'It got worse and worse. Crew begged us for money. We gave them $450k after they pressured us'