The crippled Costa Concordia cruise ship was pulled completely upright early today after a complicated, 19-hour operation to wrench it from its side where it capsized last year off Tuscany.

The trial of the captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner has begun in Tuscany, 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.

The captain of the cruise ship Costa Concordia is due to go on trial in Italy today, some 18 months after the luxury liner ran aground with the loss of 32 lives.

Work to remove the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship from its rocky perch off Tuscany will begin early next month and is expected to take 12 months, the ship’s owner Costa Crociere SpA said today.

The first hearing of the criminal investigation into the Costa Concordia’s shipwreck was held in a theatre today instead of a courthouse because of high demand, with angry survivors seeking compensation, justice and the truth.

The disabled Costa Allegra cruise ship is expected to reach the Seychelles’ main port just after dawn tomorrow, an aviation official said today.

The Costa Allegra cruise liner, stranded in the pirate-infested Indian Ocean after a fire aboard, is stable and upright while being pushed by the current, officials said.

“You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me?” an enraged Italian coastguard chief shouted as the captain of the grounded Costa Concordia sat safe in a life raft and frantic passengers struggled to escape after the ship rammed into a reef off the Tuscan coast.

The Italian operator of the Costa Concordia has today accused the ship's jailed captain, Francesco Schettino, of causing ship to run aground, saying he made an "unapproved, unauthorised manoeuvre'' to divert the vessel from its programmed course.

Emergency Services in Italy are denying reports that a seventh body has been found amid the wreckage of the Costa Condordia this morning.

Preventing pollution in the sea surrounding the sunken Costa Concordia will be a “race against time”, but the ship could be sailing again in future with a lot of hard work and a lot of money, according to a maritime expert.

The captain of a cruise liner that ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan coast faced accusations from authorities and passengers that he abandoned ship before everyone was safely evacuated and was showing off when he steered the vessel far too close to shore.