A damning new video shown Wednesday at the trial of Francesco Schettino , captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner , appears to show him boarding a lifeboat with passengers still clearly on board the doomed ship . It was presented to the court as Schettino took the stand for a second day . Schettino 's lawyer , Domenico Pepe , asked the court not to admit the fuzzy videotape that appeared to show the captain getting onto a lifeboat from the ship 's bow wearing the same jacket and tie he had on at dinner before the ship crashed . But the judge ruled that Schettino could be questioned about it . The captain has previously said he was thrown off the cruise liner into a lifeboat as the ship listed sharply . Morning testimony focused on the chain of command aboard the doomed cruise liner , with Schettino admitting to the court that his aim in sailing close to Giglio -- leading the ship to hit rocks -- was to `` impress the passengers . '' Earlier , he had denied that the ill-fated maneuver was to impress Moldovan dancer Domnica Cemortan . ' I did n't want to cause a panic ' On Tuesday , he blamed others for failures that led to the crash and 32 deaths , but on Wednesday , he said the ship was his responsibility alone . `` As commander , I was second only to God , '' he told the court . Schettino was pressed about why he waited more than an hour to give the order to abandon the ship , even though it was clearly an emergency situation with the engine rooms flooded and the ship listing . He told the court , `` I wanted to calm the passengers , I did n't want to cause a panic and have people start jumping into the water . '' When pressed further , he said , `` I waited to give the general emergency because I knew exactly how the ship would drift . I know the Concordia well . I wanted to make sure that the ship was closer to the island and then give the general emergency . The damage was already done . '' Referring to his crew , he said , `` I had 600 people who had never done a similar exercise with a ship in this position since the rules do not require it . `` And the words 'abandon ship ' can be open to interpretation : Maybe people would jump into the sea . Instead , seeing that the ship was approaching the island anyway , I waited . '' Captain confident about trial . Schettino -- who is charged with manslaughter , causing a maritime disaster and abandoning ship with passengers still on board -- denies wrongdoing . He faces up to 23 years in prison if convicted . On Tuesday , he was defiant and combative as he answered the prosecutor 's questions in a makeshift courtroom in the Teatro Moderno in the Tuscan town of Grosseto . Speaking to CNN during a court break , he said he was `` confident '' about the way the trial was going . `` It is exhausting , but I think it is going well , '' Schettino said . `` It is important because this is the only chance I have to tell my version of events . '' The cruise liner capsized after it struck rocks off Italy 's Giglio Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea on January 12 , 2012 . No one died on impact , but 32 lives were lost during the subsequent chaotic evacuation of about 4,200 people aboard the ship .
It appears to show Francesco Rossi climbing into a boat from the ship . The ship 's captain has previously said he was thrown off the listing cruise liner . Schettino denies manslaughter , citing a maritime disaster and abandoning ship charges . Thirty - two people died after the Costa Concordia hit rocks and sank off Italy 's coast .