Costa Concordia Captain wants to inspect wreck for trial

The captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia is hoping an Italian judge will grant his request for an inspection of the crippled cruise liner.

The trial of Francesco Schettino resumes today after a two-month summer recess, during which a salvage operation made more of the wreck accessible.

The Concordia crashed into a reef, took on water and capsized when Schettino steered it close to the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast, in January last year.

Schettino is charged with manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning the Concordia before all aboard were evacuated. Thirty-two people died.

Schettino says the reef was not on his charts, and the company should shoulder some blame. If convicted, he could face 20 years in prison.