By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 05:09 EST, 9 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:54 EST, 9 July 2013 . The trial of the captain of the . wrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner has begun in Tuscany, but was postponed immediately due to an eight-day nationwide lawyers' strike. The sole defendant, Francesco . Schettino, his eyes shaded by sunglasses, slipped in through a back door . and made no comment to reporters as he arrived on charges . of multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing the shipwreck . near the tiny island of Giglio. The trial in . Grosseto is being held in a theatre . converted into a courtroom to accommodate all the survivors and . relatives of the 32 victims who want justice over the 2012 tragedy. Facing the music: The captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia cruise ship, Francesco Schettino, arrives at court  in Tuscany for trial. Proceedings were postponed as a result of an Italian lawyers strike . Passengers and crew aboard the Concordia were left to their fate by Schettino. The trial in Grosseto is being held in a theatre converted into a courtroom to accommodate all the survivors and relatives of the 32 victims . Schettino's lawyer, Domenico Pepe, said some 1,000 witnesses are . expected to eventually give evidence. Many of them are expected to be . from among the 4,200 passengers and crew on board the ship which struck a . jagged reef off Giglio, took on water and capsized. Schettino, who has denied wrongdoing, could face up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted. The wreck of the ship lies on its side . and half-submerged off Giglio, blighting the seascape for another . summer in an otherwise pristine part of the Mediterranean, a daily . reminder of the slow progress Italian authorities have made in handling . the aftermath of the disaster. The remains of two of the 32 dead have . yet to be found. The timetable to salvage it has stretched on. Only now . is anyone facing trial for the catastrophe - and even that process is . expected to be immediately delayed. Captain Francesco Schettino was at the command of the cruise liner in January 2012 when it hit rocks off the coast of Tuscany and sank, killing 32 people . A lifeboat is prepared after the ship run aground off Italian island . Giglio's coast in January 2012. A report demolished Schettino's claim . that he saved thousands of lives, by steering the ship into shore . Though court-appointed experts . concluded that the crew and owner Costa Crociere SpA, a unit of . Miami-based Carnival Corp, committed blunders and safety breaches which . contributed to the tragedy off the island's rocky coast, only Captain . Schettino has been ordered to stand trial. Prosecutors contend that on the night . of January 13 2012, he steered the ship too close to the island's . coastline in a publicity stunt for Costa Crociere and accidentally . rammed the jagged reef. The cruise company denies that scenario. On trial: Captain Francesco Schettino arrives for his trial in Grosseto, Italy . Survivors described a chaotic and . delayed evacuation, with crew allegedly playing down the seriousness of . the collision, which caused a 230ft (70m) gash in the Concordia's side . and let seawater rush into the ship. Schettino has protested his innocence, . insisting that his skilful steering of the liner to just outside the . port saved thousands of lives. He also contends that the ship's . navigational charts did not indicate that the reef was in its path as it . cruised near the island on part of a week-long Mediterranean tour. A recording of a phone conversation . between Schettino and an exasperated Italian coastguard official who . repeatedly ordered the captain in vain to scramble back on board the . ship to direct the evacuation was played again and again in broadcasts . around the world. In interviews, Schettino insisted he . is no coward. He claimed he had to leave the capsizing liner before it . was impossible to launch any more lifeboats and that in the darkness he . did no see a ladder he could have used to climb back on board. The captain has depicted himself as a . scapegoat. Five other defendants - two ship officials, a helmsman, the . hotel director aboard and the director of the cruise company's crisis . unit - successfully sought pleas bargains. Yesterday, the lawyers' strike prompted the postponement of a hearing to announce their . sentences, likely to be a fraction of what Schettino could get. On Giglio, where residents depend on . tourism and fishing for their livelihoods, the wreckage still mars the . panorama from the island's port. Salvage experts had originally . predicted the ship could be tipped upright in an ambitious operation so . towing could begin in spring of this year. But that timetable has . slipped away. The removal project involves some 400 . workers representing 18 nationalities, including engineers and divers. Yesterday, crews were busy securing some of the caissons being attached . to one side of the crippled ship, which, the planners hope, will help . the wreckage stay afloat when eventually righted so it can be towed to . the mainland. Islanders are impatient for the removal of the eyesore. Schettino slipped in through a back door and made no comment to reporters as he arrived on charges of multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing the shipwreck near the tiny island of Giglio . Schettino (centre) faces 20 years in prison for his part in the maritime . disaster off the island off Giglio. Some 1,000 witnesses are . expected to give evidence at the trial . 'We want our island back as it was,' Giglio's mayor, Sergio Ortelli, told The Associated Press as he looked . at the blue cove where he used to swim. Now, towering cranes and . platforms of the removal team loom over the shipwreck. Mr Ortelli said authorities told the islanders the operation to bring the wrecked ship upright again will begin in September . The island is still awaiting . compensation for damages caused by the shipwreck, he said - 'Our image . was internationally damaged, and tourism figures have dropped off . noticeably.' Meanwhile, the remains of an Italian . woman who was a passenger and of an Indian man who worked as a waiter . have still not been recovered. 'The saddest thing is to pass by on . the ferry and think that two bodies are still there, or will never be . found,' said tourist Patrizia Giovanelli, who was making her second . visit to the island.
Francesco Schettino was at the command of cruise liner in January 2012 .
He slipped into court through a back door making no comment to reporters .
He faces 20 years in prison for his part in the maritime disaster .
Some 1,000 witnesses are .
expected to eventually give evidence at the trial .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 05:09 EST, 9 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:54 EST, 9 July 2013 . The trial of the captain of the . wrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner has begun in Tuscany, but was postponed immediately due to an eight-day nationwide lawyers' strike. The sole defendant, Francesco . Schettino, his eyes shaded by sunglasses, slipped in through a back door . and made no comment to reporters as he arrived on charges . of multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing the shipwreck . near the tiny island of Giglio. The trial in . Grosseto is being held in a theatre . converted into a courtroom to accommodate all the survivors and . relatives of the 32 victims who want justice over the 2012 tragedy. Facing the music: The captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia cruise ship, Francesco Schettino, arrives at court  in Tuscany for trial. Proceedings were postponed as a result of an Italian lawyers strike . Passengers and crew aboard the Concordia were left to their fate by Schettino. The trial in Grosseto is being held in a theatre converted into a courtroom to accommodate all the survivors and relatives of the 32 victims . Schettino's lawyer, Domenico Pepe, said some 1,000 witnesses are . expected to eventually give evidence. Many of them are expected to be . from among the 4,200 passengers and crew on board the ship which struck a . jagged reef off Giglio, took on water and capsized. Schettino, who has denied wrongdoing, could face up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted. The wreck of the ship lies on its side . and half-submerged off Giglio, blighting the seascape for another . summer in an otherwise pristine part of the Mediterranean, a daily . reminder of the slow progress Italian authorities have made in handling . the aftermath of the disaster. The remains of two of the 32 dead have . yet to be found. The timetable to salvage it has stretched on. Only now . is anyone facing trial for the catastrophe - and even that process is . expected to be immediately delayed. Captain Francesco Schettino was at the command of the cruise liner in January 2012 when it hit rocks off the coast of Tuscany and sank, killing 32 people . A lifeboat is prepared after the ship run aground off Italian island . Giglio's coast in January 2012. A report demolished Schettino's claim . that he saved thousands of lives, by steering the ship into shore . Though court-appointed experts . concluded that the crew and owner Costa Crociere SpA, a unit of . Miami-based Carnival Corp, committed blunders and safety breaches which . contributed to the tragedy off the island's rocky coast, only Captain . Schettino has been ordered to stand trial. Prosecutors contend that on the night . of January 13 2012, he steered the ship too close to the island's . coastline in a publicity stunt for Costa Crociere and accidentally . rammed the jagged reef. The cruise company denies that scenario. On trial: Captain Francesco Schettino arrives for his trial in Grosseto, Italy . Survivors described a chaotic and . delayed evacuation, with crew allegedly playing down the seriousness of . the collision, which caused a 230ft (70m) gash in the Concordia's side . and let seawater rush into the ship. Schettino has protested his innocence, . insisting that his skilful steering of the liner to just outside the . port saved thousands of lives. He also contends that the ship's . navigational charts did not indicate that the reef was in its path as it . cruised near the island on part of a week-long Mediterranean tour. A recording of a phone conversation . between Schettino and an exasperated Italian coastguard official who . repeatedly ordered the captain in vain to scramble back on board the . ship to direct the evacuation was played again and again in broadcasts . around the world. In interviews, Schettino insisted he . is no coward. He claimed he had to leave the capsizing liner before it . was impossible to launch any more lifeboats and that in the darkness he . did no see a ladder he could have used to climb back on board. The captain has depicted himself as a . scapegoat. Five other defendants - two ship officials, a helmsman, the . hotel director aboard and the director of the cruise company's crisis . unit - successfully sought pleas bargains. Yesterday, the lawyers' strike prompted the postponement of a hearing to announce their . sentences, likely to be a fraction of what Schettino could get. On Giglio, where residents depend on . tourism and fishing for their livelihoods, the wreckage still mars the . panorama from the island's port. Salvage experts had originally . predicted the ship could be tipped upright in an ambitious operation so . towing could begin in spring of this year. But that timetable has . slipped away. The removal project involves some 400 . workers representing 18 nationalities, including engineers and divers. Yesterday, crews were busy securing some of the caissons being attached . to one side of the crippled ship, which, the planners hope, will help . the wreckage stay afloat when eventually righted so it can be towed to . the mainland. Islanders are impatient for the removal of the eyesore. Schettino slipped in through a back door and made no comment to reporters as he arrived on charges of multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing the shipwreck near the tiny island of Giglio . Schettino (centre) faces 20 years in prison for his part in the maritime . disaster off the island off Giglio. Some 1,000 witnesses are . expected to give evidence at the trial . 'We want our island back as it was,' Giglio's mayor, Sergio Ortelli, told The Associated Press as he looked . at the blue cove where he used to swim. Now, towering cranes and . platforms of the removal team loom over the shipwreck. Mr Ortelli said authorities told the islanders the operation to bring the wrecked ship upright again will begin in September . The island is still awaiting . compensation for damages caused by the shipwreck, he said - 'Our image . was internationally damaged, and tourism figures have dropped off . noticeably.' Meanwhile, the remains of an Italian . woman who was a passenger and of an Indian man who worked as a waiter . have still not been recovered. 'The saddest thing is to pass by on . the ferry and think that two bodies are still there, or will never be . found,' said tourist Patrizia Giovanelli, who was making her second . visit to the island.
Francesco Schettino was at the command of the cruise liner in January 2012 when it hit rocks through a back door and made no comment to Schettino (centre) faces 20 years in prison for his part in the maritime . disaster off the island off Giglio. Some 1,000 witnesses are . expected to give evidence at the trial . 'We want