New London — With the schooner Amistad set to be docked for much of this year along the city’s waterfront, there will be a benefit in addition to it being on hand for various marine festivals.

The Custom House Maritime Museum has announced that students will have an opportunity to tour the ship for six months beginning in May. School, summer camp and home school groups will be able to book visits to both the ship and the exhibition “Amistad: A True Story of Freedom” at the museum.

In 1839, the 53 slaves who were aboard the original Amistad took control of the ship off the Cuban coast. They were finally captured off Montauk, N.Y., and brought to New London, where the ship was docked behind the Custom House. They were brought ashore and jailed in New Haven. They were helped by abolitionists and three years later the U.S. Supreme Court declared the slaves were free. Those who survived the ordeal returned to their native Sierra Leone. The incident took place 24 years before President Abraham Lincoln declared that slaves were free. The story was the subject of a 1997 Steven Spielberg movie, part of which was filmed at Mystic Seaport.

The replica of the ship, which was built at the Seaport in 2000 and is there now, will spend the summer in New London while a court-appointed receiver and judge determine a plan for its future. Amistad America, the entity that had owned and operated the ship, has run up more than $2 million in debt and is the subject of liens despite receiving more than $9 million in state funding. It lost its nonprofit status for failing to file tax returns and was the subject of a state audit. It could not return to its home port of New Haven this summer because its berth needs to be dredged.

In May, June, September and October school groups can arrange visits on Tuesday and Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. In July and August, homeschool and camp groups can schedule visits on Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. To book a visit, contact custom house director Susan Tamulevich at (860) 447-8700 or nlmaritimedirector@gmail.com.

A basic visit to the Amistad ship and exhibition, which is located two blocks away at the Custom House Maritime Museum, is $6 per student. Students will also have the opportunity to create their own wooden Amistad ship model while at the museum for a fee of $15 per student and takes about 2 1/2 hours. At the Custom House Maritime Museum, students also may learn about local maritime history, deep-sea diving, and lighthouses. Each unit adds 45 minutes to the visit, for the same program fee of $6 per student.