Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Captain Schettino: "The ship is the custodian of all these little secrets, the trial is still unfolding all these things" 
 
 The Italian captain of the Costa Concordia ship, Francesco Schettino, has returned to the wreck for the first time as part of his manslaughter trial. 
 
 The ship hit a reef near the island of Giglio in January 2012 and capsized, with the loss of 32 lives. 
 
 Mr Schettino was taken to the wreck on board a small boat, two days after travelling back to Giglio. 
 
 He denies the charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship, which could see him jailed for up to 20 years. 
 
 He arrived on the island off the Tuscan coast on Tuesday and is said to have wept when he saw the wreck from a ferry taking him to Giglio. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How the disaster happened 
 
 He attended a health-and-safety briefing at a hotel on Thursday morning to prepare him for the short boat trip out to the wreck, on which he was accompanied by a group of court-appointed experts. 
 
 Mr Schettino was taken out to the wreck on a small boat and was then seen standing on the ship itself. 
 
 He was being allowed on to the ship "as a defendant, not a consultant", said Judge Giovanni Puliatti. 
 
 The 290m-long vessel was righted in September 2013 in one of the largest, most complex salvage operations ever, but remains stranded after its ill-fated journey. 
 
 Memories of tragedy 
 
 The captain has been accused of leaving the luxury liner before the 4,229 people on board the ship were taken off. 
 
 "They want to show that I am weak, just like two years ago. It's not true. I want to show I'm a gentleman, not a coward," Italian media quoted him as saying. 
 
 He lambasted the media "frenzy" surrounding his return to vessel, describing those who accused him of abandoning the ship of not understanding "a bloody thing". 
 
 "There is a frenzy that is making me nervous," Mr Schettino told journalists and cameramen who surrounded him. "You have to respect civility." 
 
 Correspondents say that he grew increasingly angry on the dockside after the visit, frequently gesticulating as he nervously paced around. 
 
 He has already accepted some degree of responsibility, asking for forgiveness in a television interview last year as he talked of those who died. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Correspondents say that the technical inspection attended by the captain focussed on a lift where several of the victims died and on an emergency generator which the defence says malfunctioned 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Captain Schettino could be seen (centre without a helmet) in a blue sweater standing on the wreck of the ship 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Captain Schettino strongly criticised the "media frenzy" surrounding his return to the stricken vessel 
 
 But he denies abandoning the ship after it hit a reef near the island. 
 
 He maintains he managed to steer the stricken vessel closer to shore so it did not sink in deep water where hundreds might have drowned. 
 
 His lawyer Domenico Pepe said the captain's former employer, Costa Crociere, had shifted the blame towards him. 
 
 "It is very, very difficult because Schettino does not have the economic resources of Costa," he said. The firm is believed to be the biggest cruise operator in Europe, 
 
 "Schettino is confronting the whole world on his own." 
 
 An Italian court convicted five others of manslaughter in July 2013. 
 
 They had all successfully entered plea bargains, whereas Mr Schettino's request for a plea bargain was denied by the prosecution. 
 
 His return to the island will undoubtedly stir memories of the tragedy among locals, says the BBC's Alan Johnston. 
 
 "Schettino's here, he cried, so what?" one woman on the island told the AFP news agency. "We're tired of this story! We want him and the boat gone." 
 
 But Giuseppe Modesti, 67, told AFP: "There's no real anger here any more. Two years have passed and it's time to make peace with what happened." 
 
 The complex operation to salvage the Costa Concordia took 18 hours and followed months of stabilisation and preparation work by a team of 500 engineers and divers. 
 
 Ports in Italy, Britain, France, Turkey and China are now bidding for the lucrative contract to dismantle it. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption The wreck sits in the harbour of Giglio ||||| The trial of the captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner began Tuesday in a theater converted into a courtroom in Tuscany to accommodate all the survivors and relatives of the 32 victims who want to see justice carried out in the 2012 tragedy, but the hearing was quickly postponed because of a nationwide strike by lawyers. 
 
 In this frame made from APTN video of Monday, July 8, 2013 made available Tuesday July 9, people sunbathe on the rocks as the wreckage of the Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen in the background, on... (Associated Press) 
 
 Captian Francesco Schettino arrives for his trial, in Grosseto, Italy, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. The trial of the captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner has begun in a theater converted... (Associated Press) 
 
 Captian Francesco Schettino, left, talks with his lawyer Domenico Pepe during a hearing of his trial, in Grosseto, Italy, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. The trial of the captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia... (Associated Press) 
 
 The Costa Concordia cruise ship lies on its side in the waters of the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Monday, July 8, 2013. The luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany on Jan 13, 2012,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Captian Francesco Schettino arrives for his trial, in Grosseto, Italy, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. The trial of the captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner has begun in a theater converted... (Associated Press) 
 
 The sole defendant, Francesco Schettino, is charged with multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing the shipwreck near the island of Giglio. He slipped through a back door and did not speak to reporters as he arrived at the courtroom. 
 
 Judge Giovanni Puliatti adjourned the hearing until July 17 because of a strike by lawyers over a long-running dispute with the Justice Ministry over proposed reforms. 
 
 Schettino's lawyer, Domenico Pepe, said that some 1,000 witnesses will be called to testify. 
 
 Many of the witnesses will be drawn from the 4,2000 passengers and crew aboard the ship that struck a jagged reef off Giglio, took on water and capsized. 
 
 Schettino, depicting himself as a scapegoat, has denied wrongdoing. 
 
 One of the lawyers representing victims, Daniele Bocciolini, said what his clients wanted was simple. `'We are asking for justice," he told Sky TG24 TV, indicating frustration that only the captain was put on trial. 
 
 Schettino is the only defendant," but he is not the only one responsible," Bocciolini said. "There is still a need to shed light on what happened." 
 
 Five other defendants successfully sought plea bargains, and their hearing will be held in Grosseto on July 20. Their sentences are expected to be far milder than the 20 years in prison Schettino might face if convicted. 
 
 The Concordia itself lies on its side and half-submerged off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, blighting the seascape for another summer in an otherwise pristine part of the Mediterranean. 
 
 Some 18 months after the hulking ship ran aground, it is a daily reminder of slow the progress in dealing with the aftermath has been. The remains of two of the 32 dead have yet to be found. The timetable to salvage it has stretched on. 
 
 Although court-appointed experts concluded that the crew and owner Costa Crociere SpA, a unit of Miami-based Carnival Corp., committed blunders and safety breaches that contributed to the disaster off the island's rocky coast, only Schettino was ordered to stand trial. 
 
 Prosecutors contend that on the night of Jan. 13, 2012, Schettino 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. 
 
 Survivors described a chaotic and delayed evacuation, with crew allegedly downplaying the seriousness of the collision, which caused a gash 70 meters (230-feet) long in the Concordia's side and let seawater rush into the ship. 
 
 Schettino has protested his innocence. He insists that his skillful steering of the liner to just outside the port saved thousands of lives. He also contends the ship's navigational charts didn't indicate the reef was in its path as it cruised near the island on part of a weeklong Mediterranean tour. 
 
 A recording of a phone conversation between Schettino and an exasperated Italian coast guard official who repeatedly ordered the captain in vain to scramble back aboard 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 boat before it was impossible to launch any more lifeboats and that in the darkness he didn't see a ladder he could have used to climb back aboard. 
 
 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. On Monday, 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. 
 
 `'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. 
 
 Ortelli said authorities told the islanders the operation will begin in September to bring the wrecked ship upright again. 
 
 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," the mayor said. 
 
 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. 
 
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 Frances D'Emilio reported from Rome 
 
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 Follow Frances D'Emilio at _http://twitter.com./fdemilio
– Two years after the disaster that killed 32 people, captain Francesco Schettino today returned to the Costa Concordia wreckage in the course of his manslaughter trial. Schettino went aboard in order to help court-appointed experts inspect generators, which the captain claims were partly to blame for the incident, the AP reports. Judge Giovanni Puliatti was careful to qualify that Schettino was on board the ship "as a defendant, not a consultant," reports the BBC. "They want to show that I am weak, just like two years ago. It's not true. I want to show I'm a gentleman, not a coward," Schettino told Italian media. Standout detail from the BBC: It was quite the safe morning for Schettino, who participated in a health-and-safety briefing before donning a life vest and heading to the ship. (The tragedy actually claimed a 33rd victim this month.)