When my friends and former Villa Vie Odyssey shipmates Mark and Katrina Howard began to regroup after the residential cruise venture’s recent demise, they considered several options. Hailing from New Zealand, the Howards were cabin owners with an original plan to live aboard the Odyssey indefinitely.
As a digital nomad, Mark had found a comfort zone working at sea, and the couple was reveling in the many countries and cultures they were experiencing since the inaugural launch two years ago. When it all came to an abrupt end, they decided to make a trip to Italy while figuring out the way forward.
Katrina shared reflections and insights into where Odyssey’s residents are today, and how they are faring – a master class in accentuating the positive:
Where is everyone today? All over the world. We still communicate with one another, and our community still seeks each other out to help with any needs we may have. Some people no longer have a place to call home; others that have homes have offered them for people who want to come to their country. When we heard one of our own was having a medical event, there was a call out to whoever is closest to go and check on that person. The retired, families and remote workers all pulling together to help.
Trouble on the horizon
Along with other resourceful, resilient Odyssey residents, the Howards recognized that trouble was looming for months, what with Villa Vie’s numerous failed efforts to raise capital.
When the final blow came, reactions ran the gamut from shock and despair to hope and prayers. But many are still sticking close by, in various parts of Asia, to await a final verdict–whether Odyssey will indeed sail again. At this writing, the residents have been given a designated date to retrieve any remaining belongings while Odyssey is in Singapore, under “arrest.”
According to CBS News, a Singaporean law firm, Helmsman LLC, is listed as the solicitor in the “arrest” of the ship, but it is unclear whom the firm is representing. A source familiar with the matter told CBS News it is likely a fuel supplier. “The vessel has been placed under arrest pursuant to a court order,” Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority said in a statement cited by the French news agency AFP and other outlets on Monday. “The crew onboard are reported to be well, and arrangements for their welfare and wellbeing are being managed by the vessel’s creditors. There are no passengers on board.”
It added that the ship was “anchored in Singapore port waters.” AFP described the ship as being “impounded” by Singaporean authorities. A ship arrest is a legal process in Singapore in which a vessel can be detained or seized following a legal claim. Many Odyssey residents have given press interviews expressing anger and disappointment at the developments. Some have even suggested the whole venture was a scam from the start, while others don’t believe it started out that way, but that the company’s later “offers” and fundraising efforts were disingenuous at best.
Sail Away Magazine, in one of the most intelligent and brutally honest assessments I’ve seen of Villa Vie’s failures and liabilities, explains that while the matter does not meet the definition of a Ponzi scheme, there are numerous disturbing questions that still must be answered and an investigation into those failures is warranted. In Sail Away’s discussion as to Odyssey’s future, from bankruptcy to possible repurchase at auction, etc., several possibilities are broken down, the common denominator being new, more competent leadership.
But if indeed the ship could be rescued and sail again, would residents re-up? Social media comments are rampant but, as the Howards shared, only those who have actually sailed on Odyssey and become a part of its community can understand that their answer is yes.
As Katrina puts it:
My greatest wish is that we can save our ship and our community and be able to come together again. We may have lost money, some much more than us, but we gained an experience that only those who have lived it understand. Priceless.”
They and other Odyssey residents are hopeful to once again enjoy the incomparable rewards of living life at sea and being a part of that aforementioned community.
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Read more about the Villa Vie Odyssey here in Dispatches’ archives.
See more from Carla here.
Carla Bastos is a former journalist and newspaper editor, and an American expat in Italy for several years. See her personal blog here: https://globalcarlabastos.blogspot.com/
