Imagine spending more than $1 million to restore a cruise ship just to watch it all sink under the sea. That's what sadly happened to technology entrepreneur Chris Willson.
He purchased a historic cruise ship on Craigslist in 2008 and spent 15 years and over $1 million renovating the vessel. Sadly, despite pouring his life savings into the watercraft, hoping to turn it into a museum. Sadly, he was forced to sell the boat after it began sinking.
"We absolutely loved our time with that ship," Willson told CNN Travel. "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."
After buying the vessel, he named it Aurora after a sunrise he saw on the boat. Inexperienced about ships, he began the painstaking process of training to restore the cruise ship to its former glory. He funded most of this from his own savings, costing more than $1 million.
"I'd gotten quite a ways," he says. "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. We were working on the swimming pool and the forward decks, and replating all of the steel."
However, he encountered issues with the city over potential pollution. A 1940s tugboat sank next to Aurora and caused a pollution issue. Local agencies became interested in the cruise ship and wanted Willson to move the boat. However, Willson realized that he would need "million dollars worth of dredging for us to get out."
Cruise Ship Woes
"So we were kind of stuck there," he added.
When a buyer came forward with money for the boat, he ultimately cut his losses and sold the ship. He hoped that the buyer would have the resources to maintain and continue the cruise ship recovery efforts. However, fast forward several months later, and officials announced that the cruise ship was sinking. .
"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," reads a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on May 22.
"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," said a statement shared by California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response. "There were no observations of oiled wildlife throughout the response."
The tragic news of the cruise ship slowly sinking disheartened Willson.
"I didn't see it sinking," he says. "We had it for 15 years, and we had no problem with it. I don't really want to let it go," he adds. "But it's no longer my vessel."
Ultimately, the towed the cruise ship away at the end of 2024, thus ending its dreams of restoration.
