A 70-Year-Old Cruise Ship’s Bitter End
Under a nearly full moon at the end of May, a 70-year-old cruise ship with a wild and enigmatic history sunk in a lonely back channel in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. In the months since, the recriminations and finger-pointing have risen like an angry tide.
The History of the MS Aurora
The story of the MS Aurora starts in 1955 in a shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, where she was christened the Wappen von Hamburg, the first “significant” passenger ship built in Germany after the wreckage of World War II. Her graceful lines stretched nearly 300 feet stem to stern. On her maiden voyage, she carried 1,600 guests, who could relish the views from well-appointed state rooms and salons on three towering decks.
A Life of ups and downs
After cruising the North Sea for a few years, the vessel was moved south to Greece, and got a new name, the Delos, and a new distinction: She became one of the first modern ships to bring cruising to the Aegean Sea. By the late 1960s, the vessel had been sold again, and crossed an ocean to become a cruise ship on America’s West Coast, sailing under the names Pacific Star and Polar Star.
Her Hollywood Moment
In this era, the ship acquired an employee who would guarantee her place in history. Jeraldine Saunders was a fashion model and astrology aficionado who got a job working as a cruise director. “You cannot imagine the things that happen on cruise ships,” she told The Times in 1972. “The sex lives of the officers, deaths, suicides, marriages, romances, nymphomaniacs … I realize that what all people are looking for is love. The world revolves around love.”
A Sad Ending
The boat that helped start it all, however, faced rough seas ahead. In the early 1970s, the Aurora had a brief spell as a floating treasure trove, after an owner named Donald Ferguson bought her, dubbed her the Xanadu, and filled her with precious Asian antiques that passengers could admire during cruises. But by 1977, the ship was laid up in the Port of Seattle, stripped of some of her treasure.
The Last Years
The Aurora has bewitched a long line of men who believed they could restore and resurrect her as a floating tourist destination. Among them was Chris Willson, who bought the ship last fall and began documenting his efforts to restore her on social media. He called her a “valuable piece of history” and said he wanted to “do something good” for her.
The Sinking and Aftermath
But after years of neglect and struggle, the Aurora went down on the night of May 22. Cleanup crews rushed to the scene and removed 3,000 gallons of hazardous waste and 21,000 gallons of oily water. They refloated the Aurora, to keep the ship from leaking more toxins. In the months since, officials have struggled to figure out her ownership.
Consequences
U.S. Rep. Josh Harder (D-Stockton), who was on the scene as the Coast Guard tried to contain oil leaking from the Aurora last spring, said the sinking, on top of another one that went down in the same spot last year, was the last straw. Bemoaning “abandoned boats all up and down the Delta,” he recently introduced legislation that would require owners of big boats to have more insurance and more liability.
The Future
For Willson, the fault lies with small-minded governance. He says he felt beaten down by various local authorities for years before making the heart-wrenching decision to sell the Aurora last October to the secretive buyer, and that their bureaucracy and lack of vision all but sealed her fate.
Conclusion
The story of the MS Aurora is a tale emblematic of California’s Delta, a world unto itself, its winding channels home to fifth-generation farm families, solitary fishermen, houseboaters and artists living off the grid – and its delicate ecosystem under constant threat from a variety of assaults. Not the least of which are abandoned boats and their toxic spew.
FAQs
Q: Who owned the MS Aurora?
A: The true owner of the MS Aurora is currently unknown, as the new owner failed to file paperwork with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Q: Why did the MS Aurora sink?
A: The circumstances of the sinking are unclear, but it is suspected that the ship had been neglected and was no longer seaworthy.
Q: What will happen to the MS Aurora now that she has sunk?
A: The Coast Guard and other agencies will continue to monitor the ship and ensure that any hazards are contained. Eventually, the ship will need to be disposed of in a responsible manner.
