Man came across major issue after buying cruise ship and spending £760,000 restoring it
When it comes to making impulsive shopping decisions, few of us wake up in the morning and decide to purchase a cruise ship to restore.
But for US man Christopher Willson, this is exactly what happened, with the Utah native purchasing a 1955 German cruise ship on Craigslist back in 2008 for an undisclosed amount.
The specifics of how you'd even go about finding and buying a ship aside, the following 15 years would see Willson and his partner set out on the long and expensive dream to restore the vessel to its former glory.
However this didn't quite work out.
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Originally named the Wappen von Hamburg, the boat is steeped in history as the first maritime project Germany was allowed to embark on in the aftermath of World War Two.
Around 293-foot in length and boasting of 85 cabins, the Wappen von Hamburg had been left to fall into a state of disrepair. However this didn't deter Willson, who renamed the vessel Aurora and planned to transform it into a museum which everyone could enjoy.
Willson would even document the process online, sharing a series of videos to his YouTube account titled Aurora Restoration Project.
Unfortunately Willson's noble mission was not meant to be. After a series of setbacks and forced relocations let him feeling 'trapped' by the ambitious project, he made the difficult decision to sell and passed the ship onto a new owner for just $20 (£16) in October 2023.
Which is a pretty harsh investment when you consider that Willson spent somewhere between $1 to 2 million (£760,000 - £1.5 million) on the project.
Despite securing a bargain, the new owner wouldn't have much luck either.
In May 2024, San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the Aurora had started to take on water at its mooring in Stockton, California and was now causing an environmental issue in the local area.
"I'm pretty sad about the whole situation, but I believe things happen for a reason," Willson said in an interview with BI, when asked about the ultimate fate of his passion project.
"Although I don't regret a single minute of my time on it, I knew I needed to leave before I started to feel regret."
According to local outlet Stocktonia, the ship was finally moved from its mooring at the end of last year.
A more recent update came from a community Facebook page titled Aurora Restoration Project, which confirmed the ship had been lifted from the water near the city of Vallejo, California, where the ship - and Willson's restoration dreams - have likely been scrapped.
Topics: Cruise Ship, Community
Brenna Cooper