Costa Concordia captain steered ship too close to Giglio island to 'impress passengers'

The captain, responsible for the Costa Concordia tragedy, has said that he steered the cruise ship closer to a nearby island to impress passengers.

While giving his first testimony at his trial, Francesco Schettino said that he wanted to give passengers a better view of the island. He refuted claims that he maneuvered the ship to impress a woman who was at the helm with him at the time and added that the move was "commercially motivated," reported the BBC.

Schettino said that by sailing too close to the island, he wanted to salute a retired captain who lived there and wanted to do a favour to the vessel's head waiter, who was from Giglio. He said that he often performed such "fly-bys" to impress passengers.

The captain faces charges of manslaughter and dereliction of duty.

The Costa Concordia hit a reef off the Italian island of Giglio two years ago and capsized, killing 32 people. It was raised from the sea in July and towed to Genoa to be scrapped.