A residential cruise ship is heading back to port less than 24 hours after finally being released from its 4-month purgatory
Villa Vie Odyssey finally set sail on Monday night after four months of delays.
However, it has turned back to port less than 24 hours later.
Some more paperwork needs to be completed before the three-year round-the-world voyage can begin.
A residential cruise ship that finally left port following months of delays has had to turn around after less than 24 hours.
Villa Vie Odyssey has been promising its residents a never-ending voyage that would circumnavigate the world every 3 ½ years, stopping at 147 countries and 425 destinations along the way — all while providing the comforts of a traditional cruise.
Some buyers have paid upward of $469,000 for a cabin on the floating condominium.
The ship was initially scheduled to set sail in May. However, certification and mechanical issues with the more-than-30-year-old vessel continued to delay its departure from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
After four months of waiting, the residential cruise ship finally set off on Monday around 11:30 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. ET) — only to remain anchored near the coast.
The BBC reported that it is due back at Belfast Harbour around 1:30 p.m. (8:30 a.m. ET) on Tuesday. As of that time, however, the ship appeared to still be at anchorage.
According to Belfast Harbour's website, the Odyssey is scheduled to leave again at 11 p.m. (6 p.m. ET).
Passengers told the BBC that they were informed the never-ending cruise needed to return to port to complete some final pieces of paperwork.
It marks another hiccup in the tumultuous story that has seen everything from passengers kicked off for complaining to a couple getting engaged after meeting on board.
A Villa Vie spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.
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