A round-the-world cruise ship that has been stuck in Belfast for over three months has been struck by further delays.
Passengers were told earlier this week that the Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey was given the “all-clear” to embark on its voyage after repairs were completed, according to reports.
The £27,000-a-month luxury liner undertook sea trials over the past week, with passengers expressing their excitement on social media.
The Mail Online reported that Mike Peterson, managing director of Villa Vie, hopes the liner will be “under way as soon as Wednesday”.
The Odyssey arrived in Belfast in May and underwent tests on repairs to its rudder and gearbox. It was supposed to be undertaking the first part of a three-year cruise, but repairs took much longer than expected.
On Thursday, however, The Mail Online revealed that despite the ship passing its sea tests a “new critical issue” will delay their departure for at least another three days – and potentially considerably longer.
Read more
The unforeseen new problem is that the ship has been moored for all this time in docks owned by the world-famous Harland and Wolff company – famed for building the even more ill-fated Titanic – which went bust last week.
This means the shipyard where the Villa Vie Odyssey is moored cannot legally allow passengers to enter – and there is currently no available mooring where this can happen.
One dockyard worker told The Mail Online: “I can understand why people are calling this trip ‘cursed’. I’ve been working in this business for nearly three decades and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ship go through so many setbacks and delays.
“But they cannot board the passengers where the boat is moored now for safety and insurance reasons – so they’re having to wait for a space to become free elsewhere and they don’t know how long that will take.
“It’s incredible that they’ve finally fixed the engine problems but now have nowhere to board their passengers. What a twist!”
Belfast Harbour and Harland and Wolff have been contacted for a response.