Ideally, news of the formation of a new nonprofit group to assume ownership and control of the replica sailing ship Amistad is the start of a great new episode in the ship’s service to the state, and not a case of “here we go again.” To make sure the former is the case, and not the latter, the state will this time have to include a heavy dose of oversight and accountability with any taxpayer aid it provides to the organization running the ship.

Built at the Mystic Seaport and completed in 2000, the schooner Amistad replicates the ship that was commandeered by its African captives. The ship ended up in New London, the captives taken to New Haven where American courts began the debate over their legal status, leading to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that set them free.

The intent of the replica ship was to tell that story and promote its historical significance, but in recent years that mission went far off course, even as the state continued to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to the organization running it, without oversight or accountability.

The 80-foot schooner was spending little time in the state. Entertainment groups rented it as a prop. Unfortunately, there has been a lack of satisfactory answers about where all the money went and who profited. Amistad America, the group charged with managing the ship, ended up strapped with $2.2 million in debt.

Eventually, Attorney General George Jepsen intervened, placing the ship in receivership and naming attorney Katherine B. Sacks as receiver. Mr. Jepsen is now proposing the sale of the Amistad to a new nonprofit group, Discovering Amistad, for $315,000, using state funds for the purchase, technically from Amistad America. In reality, sale proceeds would pay creditors in a bankruptcy-like proceeding, with many of those owed money taking sizable haircuts.

Amistad’s new mission would focus on education, keeping a close connection to schools in the state. It would travel less, reducing risk and wear.

The new nonprofit has strong New Haven connections, but we would strongly urge that Amistad share time visiting various Connecticut ports that can accommodate it, and certainly spend significant time in New London, given its historic connection to the city. Of late, it has been ported at the city’s Custom House Pier.

After careful consideration by Superior Court Judge Antonio C. Robaina, who has been overseeing the matter, it may turn out this is indeed the best way to lay in a new course for the Amistad.