Man bought cruise ship and spent $1 million to restore it only to find a major issue
- This US man purchased a cruise ship in 2008
- He invested 15 years and $1 million into it
- However, he was forced to abandon the project
Published on Sep 19, 2024 at 2:17 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Sep 20, 2024 at 2:12 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
After purchasing a cruise ship in 2008, this US man spent $1 million to restore it – but one major issue put an end to the entire project.
Chris Willson purchased a historic cruise ship on Craigslist with his partner, Jin Li.
The vessel was 293 feet (89 meters) long with 85 cabins.
However, after investing 15 years in addition to a small fortune, he was forced to abandon ship on his endeavors.
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The cruise ship
The German-built vessel was a retired ‘pocket’ cruise ship – far smaller than the world’s largest cruise ship that is five times bigger than the Titanic.
The vessel was built in 1955 by the Blohm and Voss shipyard.
After signing on the dotted line, Willson managed to get it moved over to California.
It had originally been named Wappen von Hamburg, per CNN reports, however, Willson renamed it ‘Aurora’.
His ultimate goal was to turn the cruise ship into a museum for the public, uploading the progress on his YouTube channel, Aurora Restoration Project.
“I’d gotten quite a ways,” he told CNN.
“I think we had 10 areas solidly restored and refurnished meticulously.
“These were kind of major areas. So we were pretty proud of that.
“So we were doing a pretty good job. We had marine engineers involved. There was no lack of people coming out to loan a hand.”
He continued: “We were working on the swimming pool and the forward decks, and replating all of the steel.”
This timelapse shows the construction of another huge cruise ship over six years.
The issue with the restore
After huge leaps forward, Willson was sadly forced to sell the cruise ship in October 2023 after one major setback set him adrift.
The problem began in 2023 when a 1940s military tugboat, Mazapeta, was stationed next to his ship and sank.
This created a ‘pollution issue’.
While you might think relocating was a quick fix, it would have cost a ‘million dollars worth of dredging for us to get out’.
“Everything kind of changed from that point on,” said Willson.
Sadly in May, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said the Aurora was starting to sink.
“It has been determined the ship has suffered a hole and is taking on water and is currently leaking diesel fuel and oil into the Delta Waterway,” said a statement on X.
A statement was also shared by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response.
“Over the last several weeks, response contractors, Global Diving and Salvage and subcontractors, successfully refloated the vessel and removed an estimated 21,675 gallons of oily water, 3,193 gallons of hazardous waste, and five 25-yard bins of debris was removed from the vessel.”
Connie Cochran, community relations officer for the City of Stockton, said they are now ‘figuring out how to dispose of the vessel’.
Willson said: “It selling was probably the hardest thing I’ve done in my life,”
“It haunts me and I lose sleep over it. I’m not happy about it.”
Fancy a life at sea? This luxury cruise ship will allow residents to permanently live at sea.
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
