Entrepreneur spends all his savings to renovate an abandoned cruise ship – before his dream project takes a tragic turn

A man spent all his savings to convert a discarded cruise yacht – but the renovation of the 2,500-ton yacht did not go entirely smoothly.

Planning for to convert the boat, built in 1955, into a museum, Chris Willson bought the boat on Craigslist in 2008.

Although he made renovations to make the boat habitable – it was his home for more than a decade – his efforts to make the boat seaworthy were costly, he told CNN on Wednesday.

“We just enjoyed our time on that boat,” Willson, originally from Utah, told the station about the past decade and a half he spent working on the 293-foot boat with his girlfriend, Jin Li.

'[Selling] was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life,” he said of the decision to sell the boat after investing more than a million dollars in its renovation.

The Aurora began to sink a few months after Willson finally had to sell it

“It haunts me and I can't sleep. I'm not happy about it.”

The cruiser, originally named Wappen von Hamburg, with 85 cabins – the first major passenger ship built by Germany after the Second World War – ended up anchored in the California Delta and got a new owner who eventually offered the boat for sale.

Impressed by the ship’s layout and the “magnificent” staircases, Willson took a trip to Northern California.

“I sort of posed as a potential buyer, even though I really had no interest in buying a ship,” he told CNN in 2022. “It was a little out of my comfort zone, to say the least.”

When he boarded, he saw firsthand how neglected the boat had been over the years – it was a far cry from the photos he had seen from its heyday.

Willson undertook renovations to make it habitable and called the ship his home for more than 10 years

Originally named Wappen von Hamburg, the 85-cabin cruiser – the first major passenger ship built by Germany after World War II – ended up anchored in the California Delta before Willson bought it.

However, beneath all the “junk” and mold was still “one of the most spectacular floor plans I have ever seen on a ship,” he said.

“It’s almost like finding an old Corvette from the ’60s in the garage,” he said of the ship’s potential.

“You can see that the quality is there, but it is so neglected that you almost feel sorry for it.”

“And before you know it, I own a ship,” Willson said, adding that he was able to “negotiate a really good deal with the ship owner.”

During the renovation of the ship, which took place in Rio Vista, hundreds of bags of household waste and old mattresses were present, he recalled.

When he found the boat in 2008, he saw firsthand how neglected it had been over the years

But when he looked closer, he saw potential in the five-story ship

“The scale was enormous,” he said of the undertaking, which required volunteers.

“It’s almost like renovating 15 houses all by yourself.”

After a few months, Willson and his partner decided to move out of their home in Santa Cruz to focus on the work at hand.

“When I first moved abroad, a lot of my friends and family couldn't believe it,” he told CNN. “It was a pretty big change in my lifestyle.”

“But I see it more as an improvement, even though we are not connected to the power grid and mainly use generators and solar power grids.”

“It's almost like finding an old '60s Corvette in your garage,” Willson said. “You can see the quality is there, but it's so neglected you almost feel sorry for it.”

“And before you know it, I own a ship,” Willson said, adding that he was able to “negotiate a really good deal with the owner of the ship,” whose name remained unnamed.

As the two worked, Willson learned more about the boat's past.

He discovered that not only was it the inspiration for the popular 1970s series The Love Boat, but it was also the filming location for the villains' headquarters in the second James Bond film From Russia with Love.

It served as a cruise ship for about two decades before changing owners several times.

“Nobody knew the history of the ship,” he says. “And over time we have uncovered so much of its history.”

“We took a big, rusting ship in the delta and turned it into probably one of the most famous historic cruise ships in the world.”

“And I have to be proud of that.”

The boat not only served as inspiration for the popular 1970s series “The Love Boat”, but was also the filming location for the villains’ headquarters in the second James Bond film, “From Russia with Love”.

Willson invested all his savings in the project and named the boat Aurora after regularly seeing the sunrises on the deck of the boat.

Willson put all his savings into the project and named the boat Aurora after regularly witnessing the sunrises on the deck of the boat.

However, Willson said he had regularly received “three-day notices” from the local government to leave the premises, but the police had never “enforced an eviction order.”

The situation was made worse when a military tug sank alongside the Aurora in January, causing, in his words, a “pollution problem.”

“From that point on, everything changed,” he explained, revealing that there was “really no future for the Aurora” at that location.

The relocation would be costly, he said, telling CNN it would have meant “multi-million dollars' worth of dredging for us.” [just] to get out.'

Pictured: Aurora's cameo appearance in “From Russia with Love” in 1963

Willson said he had received regular “three-day notices” from the local government to leave the site, but police had never “carried out an eviction.”

“So we were kind of stuck,” he said. Then, in October 2023, he and his partner made the painful decision to sell the ship to an unnamed buyer.

Only five months later, the boat began to sink.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office said at the time: “The vessel was found to have a hole, is taking on water, and is currently leaking diesel fuel and oil into the Delta Waterway.”

The US Coast Guard later An estimated 76,500 litres of oil-contaminated water, 11,450 litres of waste and five 22-metre containers full of debris were removed from the ship.

Willson said he was shocked to learn that the ship had partially sunk after he decided to sell it.

Willson said he was shocked to learn that the ship had partially sunk.

“I didn't see it sink,” he said Wednesday. “We had it for 15 years and had no problems with it.”

He added: “I have maintained this ship meticulously. I have checked everything on it several times every day. We have been on it the whole time… It just makes me sadder than anything else.”

Despite criticism from locals, Willson still fondly remembers his time on the ship.

“We absolutely enjoyed our time on this ship,” said Willson. “It [selling] was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

“It haunts me and I can't sleep. I'm not happy about it.”