Man Who Purchased Cruise Ship on Craigslist Mourns Its Dying

• A person from Utah who spent over $1 million restoring a cruise ship he bought on Craigslist is talking out in regards to the vessel being demolished
• “It’s most likely one of many saddest issues that I’ve needed to witness on this lifetime…” Chris Willson, who bought the boat in October 2023, advised CNN Journey
• Willson and his long-term associate, Jin Li, spent 15 years restoring the Aurora — a 293-foot vessel — after buying it on-line in 2008, PEOPLE beforehand reported

A person from Utah who spent over $1 million restoring a cruise ship he purchased on Craigslist earlier than it began sinking is talking out in regards to the unhappy second the vessel was demolished.

As beforehand reported by PEOPLE, know-how entrepreneur Chris Willson revealed in a September 2024 interview with CNN Journey that he and his long-term associate, Jin Li, spent 15 years restoring the Aurora — a 293-foot vessel — after buying it on-line in 2008. 

The ship — which was initially named the Wappen von Hamburg and impressed The Love Boat — was constructed by Germany after World Battle II. It featured 85 cabins, a swimming pool, and a theater and was featured within the 1963 movie From Russia with Love.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) introduced in Might of final 12 months that the boat had begun to “sink in 13 ft of water and discharge air pollution” in Little Potato Slough close to Stockton.

In December, USCG’s Northern California X account confirmed a “lifeless ship tow” had been carried out and the vessel had been taken to close by Mare Island. Stockton Group Relations Officer Connie Cochran has since advised CNN that the vessel “isn’t any extra.”

Willson, who bought the boat in October 2023 after locals took subject with the dormant ship, advised CNN Journey that seeing it demolished was, “most likely one of many saddest issues that I’ve needed to witness on this lifetime.” He added, “It’s exhausting to look at 15 years of exhausting work simply go to finish waste.”

Cochran advised the outlet in an electronic mail, “It was towed to Mare Island, and as of April 9, 2025, the destruction of the Aurora was full aside from the ultimate disposal of some key items and materials.”

Willson advised CNN of his determination to promote the vessel practically two years in the past, “Was I keen to go down with the ship? I imply, I’d have labored on that ship my whole life.”

“However as soon as they threw a wrench within the works, that sort of ended it for me. I made a decision, no extra,” he added, per the publication, insisting he was grateful to have been in a position to maintain it on the water for thus lengthy.

“I stored it secure for 15 years, after which I couldn’t see any hope for me engaged on the mission anymore. So I handed it on to another person,” Willson, who wished to show the ship right into a museum, advised CNN.

“If I’d have identified it will have [gone] on this course, I’d have caught it out,” he admitted to the outlet. “However, I believe it will have been sticking it out to my detriment.”

Maritime historian and cruise author, Peter Knego, advised CNN final month of witnessing the ship’s finish, “They’re demolishing it with these cranes that go in and simply grind up the metal,” calling it the “most secure” technique.

“It’s a very mean-looking, horrible dying for the ship,” he added to the outlet.

In a June 2024 assertion shared on Instagram, the California Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Workplace of Spill Prevention and Response stated that contractors had “eliminated an estimated 21,675 gallons of oily water, 3,193 gallons of hazardous waste, and 5 25-yard bins of particles” from the ship.

“It actually hurts that I couldn’t bounce again in there and put it aside,” Willson advised CNN whereas discussing the ship ultimately assembly its finish. Nonetheless, he stated he had no regrets and “wouldn’t commerce the expertise for something.”

Willson, who beforehand documented the Aurora’s “restoration mission” on Instagram and YouTube, added to the outlet that there, “have been so many almosts with that ship.”

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“We virtually had the correct individuals concerned with a view to save that ship for a lot of, many extra generations, however issues fell by and we simply stored ready for the following one to occur,” he stated.

He claimed the customer who bought the ship from him “appeared simply as obsessed with saving” the vessel as he was, per the outlet.

Whereas Willson did not disclose the unique value of the vessel, he stated in his earlier CNN interview printed in September that he was in a position to “work out a very good cope with the proprietor.”

Willson and Stockton Group Relations Officer Connie Cochran did not instantly reply when contacted by PEOPLE for remark.