Utah man bought cruise ship on Craigslist – now it’s sinking after $1m restoration

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A Utah man spent $1 million renovating a cruise ship he bought off Craigslist – only for it to sink.

In an interview with CNN Travel, technology entrepreneur Chris Willson admitted that he and his partner Jin Li spent 15 years renovating a 293-foot vessel called the Aurora after purchasing it off Craigslist in 2008. From a swimming pool to an indoor theater, the ship boasted many amenities and tons of space for guests, with 85 cabins.

After learning more about its history, like how it was originally named Wappen von Hamburg, built in Germany after World War II as well as being featured in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love, Willson fell in love with the idea of restoring the boat to its former glory.

Willson was able to “work out a really good deal” for the boat, and set about his passion project, first docking it for a year in Rio Vista, California, then in San Francisco’s Pier 38 for three years, and was docked for a year at Herman & Helen’s Marina by Stockton, Calif. However, he ended up selling the boat in 2023 after locals took issue with the ship.

But by then, he had gotten significant renovations done to the ship, with his ultimate goal being to transform it into a museum. Over those 15 years spent renovating, he garnered over 12,000 followers on the Aurora Restoration Project’s Facebook page as well as 80,000 subscribers to the project’s YouTube channel. Well-wishers commended him on restoring the ship, with some even traveling from far and wide to visit the project in California.

“I’d gotten quite a ways. I think we had 10 areas solidly restored and refurnished meticulously,” he recalled. “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.”

Although the identity of the Aurora’s latest owner hasn’t been revealed, the US Coast Guard announced that the ship had begun to “sink in 13 feet of water and discharge pollution.”

“Extensive surveys suggest that no recoverable oil remains onboard. There were no observations of oiled wildlife throughout the response,” the U.S. Coast Guard’s press release added, noting that the City of Stockton had “hired contractors to maintain pumps within the vessel to address potential water ingress and monitor the vessel.”

According to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office in a post on X, officials have determined that “the ship has suffered a hole and is taking on water and is currently leaking diesel fuel and oil into the Delta Waterway.”

The following month, Unified Command hired contractors to refloat the Aurora and remove “an estimated 21,675 gallons of oily water, 3,193 gallons of hazardous waste, and five 25-yard bins of debris.”

Since then, there’s been an ongoing dispute over the ownership of the cruise, with the city of Stockton officials claiming it had “no clear ownership.”

However, in a recent post on the Facebook group page dedicated to Aurora’s restoration project, Willson told his followers the “new owner has consistently reached out to every pertinent agency, fervently proclaiming his ownership status, and has provided unequivocal legal documentation confirming his ownership.”

Willson and Li are now searching for a new passion project, preferably for something on land, but they will always have a soft spot for the Aurora.

“It was such a well-known vessel,” Willson said. “And it had everybody’s hearts.”