Mayday to Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane. Mayday. Hello? Anyone there?

As the astounding debt racked up by Amistad America comes into sharper focus - the total is already more than $2 million and likely to rise higher - the question arises anew: Why has there been no accountability for this fiasco?

There are clear suggestions of criminal wrongdoing in the bungled management of the nonprofit that owns the tall ship, a replica of the captive-carrying schooner built right from the pages of Connecticut history and paid for by Connecticut taxpayers.

Indeed it is more than just a replica, now that it has made ocean crossings and sailed past so many landmarks of the Amistad story, from West Africa to Cuba. Many tens of thousands of visitors on several continents have learned anew on the Mystic-built Amistad the story of how the African captives improbably broke their chains, landed in New London and eventually won their freedom in a Connecticut courtroom.

Attorney General George Jepsen has now delivered the ship itself into the care of a court-appointed receiver, who is using the balance of state money from the last budget to keep it safe and on hold through the winter.

But tough choices lie ahead. Gov. Dannel Malloy and lawmakers need to decide what happens next and how much money they are willing to commit to rescuing the state's ship.

One large complication in transferring title to any new organization is the debt accumulated by the now-defunct Amistad America before the receiver was named. The judge overseeing the case called the amount eye-popping.

Among the claims are some that have been filed as federal maritime liens. There must be a resolution of some kind for creditors or almost any of them could eventually push the matter to a federal sale of the vessel. It's clouding the title and the ship's future.

One possible resolution to the problem would be for the state to create a new fund in which creditors could be paid a share of what they are owed. The receiver suggested in court this week that could be a way to resolve the issue and move forward.

That is a daunting political agenda for Connecticut lawmakers grappling with ongoing budget woes, and it should be especially galling to taxpayers that the people who acquired the debt, despite generous state and federal subsidies to the ship, millions of dollars in handouts, are not being asked to bear any responsibility.

On the other hand, would lawmakers want to let the state ship, one still on many Connecticut license plates, go up for auction?

Amistad America seemed to operate outside all the rules and laws that the rest of us are made to respect under penalty of fines or arrest. It didn't file its tax returns for three years and then, after it lost its nonprofit status for failure to file, continued to solicit contributions. It lost its corporate status with the state for failure to file and ran programs that should have been licensed by the state and were not.

The complaints by creditors - the receiver called the accumulated debt "numbing" - indicated Amistad America ordered goods and services with no intention of ever paying. The organization gave excuses or stopped answering phone calls or letters asking for payment, creditors said.

Among the many creditors were employees who were not paid. Last I heard, not paying employees is against the law.

And then there's the money.

Where did it all go?

Amistad was receiving close to $400,000 a year in subsidies from Connecticut, including a few years when it was sitting under canvas in Mystic, presumably accruing few expenses. The numerous federal subsidies are harder to track, but they also ran into seven figures.

At the same time, many, many bills were never paid.

The auditors hired to examine the organization's records found little or no recordkeeping, despite state requirements of accountability.

The auditors eventually cobbled together some reports on the lost financial years, but they cautioned they are not at all reliable because they were based on recollections and current testimony from Amistad America officials, not actual receipts or bookkeeping.

It's a mess, and with the suggestion this week that taxpayers may be asked to bail out Amistad America to get back the ship they built, it's time to find out who's to blame.

I hope lawmakers who care about the ship and the particular history of the state that it represents demand Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane get to the bottom of it.

Meanwhile, we also learned this week that the pier where the ship docks for free in New Haven is silting in and the ship sits dangerously on the bottom during periods of each day.

The receiver suggested the ship might be berthed in New London instead, if the city would only not charge. Attention Mayor Daryl Finizio: It's a tourist attraction, a tall ship you want on your waterfront, one that tells part of the remarkable story of the black history of the country, which happened right here. Stop charging them!

There are now two black members of the eastern Connecticut delegation to the General Assembly who should welcome this chance to keep this icon of Connecticut history here, for new generations of students to learn from.

They have their work cut out for them. I wish them luck.

This is the opinion of David Collins

d.collins@theday.com

Twitter: @DavidCollinsct