NAPLES, Italy — The former captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner says he understands why some people "hate" him, but has no regrets about his actions in the aftermath of the shipwreck that left 32 people dead.

Francesco Schettino did not attend the unveiling of memorials in Giglio, Italy, over the weekend as survivors and victims' families marked the one-year anniversary of the accident. Instead, the luxury cruise liner’s former captain was at his home near Naples, where he lives under some court restrictions.

Accused of multiple manslaughter, causing the wreck and abandoning ship, Schettino told NBC News the toughest part of the aftermath of the crash was that people think he did not try to help the situation after he took the ship off course during a sail-by salute of the coast.

"Everybody believes that I was escaping from the sinking ship," he said. However, Schettino contended he "tried to make an effort to make sure that I was the last one to leave the ship — from the sinking side."

Schettino, who described himself as a strict captain, insisted that other people should share the blame for the accident.

He said Costa Cruises told him before the wreck that he needed to share some authority with his well-qualified, lower-ranking officers who felt he was "breathing too much down their necks." 

Gregorio Borgia / AP file

Francesco Schettino, former captain of the Costa Concordia, says he appreciated having the opportunity to share his side of the story with a survivor of the crash.

"And unfortunately I was relying, in the last three minutes, on an officer, when all of a sudden he was handing me the control of the ship without giving me distance — nothing," Schettino said.

That, he said, was when he noticed foam on the water — a sign of shallow water or something jutting from the surface. 

"I regret that I was trusting (that officer).  I was trusting him before the accident, and also after the accident.  And I have been living with these things inside me.  I will never trust anyone anymore because this was a very deadly mistake," he said.

Schettino claimed he had no way to tell how many people were still on board when he left the vessel.

"People don't understand that the ship is 58 meters (nearly 200 feet) wide, so you don't have a chance to see who else is left on the other side.  And in the moment the floor started to become steeper, you have no other option: To die, or to swim," he said. "So, I regret nothing."

Schettino said he understood why people "hate" him — but added he did not think he deserved this.

"If you lose your child — or any member of your family because of an accident — you start to learn to live with this kind of pain that you have inside you.  But if you are not able to find a reason because you just believe you lost that person because of the stupidity or arrogance of somebody else, it is more difficult not to start to hate people," he said.

"I will do my best to relay the reasons why this tragedy took place, in a way that is very well represented, very well analyzed, simply because I don't like that people may potentially hate me," he said.

Slideshow: Luxury cruise ship runs aground

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The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers, ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy killing 32 people - including two Americans.

Launch slideshow

He said he appreciated the chance to share his perspective of the crash with a survivor.

"It was a great pleasure speaking with that person — they fully understand me now. ... It would have given me great pleasure to meet the others," he said, adding that he would wait, let the truth to come out and allow time for people to absorb it.

"I am close to anybody in this, and I join my pain to their pain, even if there is a difference," he said. "I have the pain of a person who is responsible for the cruise ship and I have never denied that. Never."

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GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy -- Just before the one-year anniversary of the Costa Concordia disaster, survivors find that their emotions are right back at the surface -- as they've been asked by the world's media over the past week to relive and retell their horror stories from that night, and to give an update on how they're doing.

The similarities in their stories have been striking: several survivors told NBC News that the night of Jan. 13, 2012 seems like a video game in their minds now, one in which they were the characters, with a laser focus on finding a lifeboat with enough room for them. Running along the decks, with a mission: to stay calm, and survive.

A couple from Boston said they drew upon the movie "Titanic" as they waited at the water line to be rescued, after rappelling down the side of the hull on a rope that they had found and tied around themselves. With images from the film replaying in their heads, they knew that if they tried to swim to safety, they might suffer hypothermia. And if they waited too long inside the ship, the suction from the water pouring in might also mean their end.

Even a year later, some accounts result in tears. The desperation and fear in those terrible memories have just been too intense to shake. But more and more, survivors' stories end in satisfaction -- and in some cases, surprise -- at the strong lessons learned about their own personal mettle and endurance.

So, it was difficult for many to hear about a press release suddenly put out by one of the attorneys representing Concordia passengers, claiming that parent company Carnival Corporation was now blaming the passengers themselves, accusing them of negligence and alleging that their injuries were their own fault.

The release quoted from a response Carnival had filed back in November in response to a lawsuit by two uninjured passengers. The release stated that Carnival claimed that the passengers "acted negligently or carelessly and were the sole or contributory cause of the alleged injuries or damages."

Carnival, however, told NBC News their words were taken out of context.

"The language in question, which is from a standard and customary legal filing in response to a complaint filed by two passengers, has been taken completely out of context. The defendants in the case have not accused the plaintiffs of negligence. It is truly shameful that anyone would purposely misrepresent what is stated in the filing, particularly as we near the one-year anniversary of the tragedy," a Carnival representative said.

It is doubtful that the emotion, the anger and the accusations surrounding this tragedy will dissipate anytime soon.

Hundreds of passengers have filed lawsuits against the cruise line; the Costa Concordia captain is accused of crimes including manslaughter and abandoning the ship; and two people who were on board that night are still missing.

Capt. Francesco Schettino has insisted that he was encouraged to do sail-pasts close to shore to delight tourists, a statement Costa Concordia has repeatedly deniedt. Schettino, meanwhile, has filed suit to get his job back.

How long will that sad, fading wreck rest in the port of the tiny Isola del Giglio? Probably until September -- at least. The huge removal project will cost $400 million.

A memorial service for the victims will mark the anniversary on Sunday. Crews will take the gigantic boulder that the Concordia struck and return it to sea.

Slideshow: Luxury cruise ship runs aground

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The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers, ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy killing 32 people - including two Americans.

Launch slideshow

Related stories

• Safety in spotlight a year after Costa Concordia crash
• Experts: Costa Concordia equipment malfunctioned before crash
• Packed court as Costa captain hears evidence

GROSSETO/GIGLIO, Italy - An Italian court heard on Tuesday that equipment aboard the Costa Concordia luxury liner may not have been functioning when she ran aground and capsized, killing 32 people.

Gregorio Borgia / AP

The case of the former captain of the Costa Concordia luxury cruise ship Francesco Schettino, 51, is of such interest that a theater had to be turned into a courtroom to accommodate those who had a legitimate claim to attend the closed-door hearing.

The list of issues compiled by a panel of court-appointed experts included a wide range of alleged malfunctions, from lights that did not work during the disaster to the possibility that radar equipment had been turned off or broken.

The hearing is closed to the public because the huge media interest could not be accommodated.

The 114,500-ton luxury cruise ship capsized on Jan. 13 after approaching the Tuscan island of Giglio to perform a maneuver close to the shore known as a salute. It struck a rock which tore a gash in its hull. 

Packed court as Costa captain hears evidence

Also on Tuesday, Francesco Schettino, the captain blamed for the disaster admitted he made mistakes but accused the cruise liner company of mishandling the response. He said last week he was suing Costa Cruises, a unit of Carnival Corp., for unfair dismissal following the accident.

His lawyer Francesco Pepe said the hearing would show his client was not solely responsible for the disaster. 

"Schettino's responsibility needs to be established and it needs to be established that others may have contributed as well," he said after the conclusion of the hearing's first day. 

Meanwhile in Giglio, where the stricken liner still lays on her side awaiting salvage, news has emerged that thieves broke into the Costa Concordia earlier this year, stealing furniture, paintings and luxury goods from a gift shop. Sources at Costa Crociere say the thieves had used entry holes and guide ropes made by search and rescue teams to get into the ship.

'I saved your lives'
Schettino slipped into court by a back door on Tuesday, wearing dark glasses and offering just a brief wave to waiting journalists. According to Italian TV network Tg1, he spoke to two German Costa passengers inside court, saying, “I saved your lives and those of many other passengers.”

This week’s hearings will help the judge decide if Schettino should stand trial. He is accused of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship while passengers and crew were still aboard. He denies the accusations and has not been charged.

Costa Concordia cruise ship captain says sacking unfair

A key question is how much of the blame Schettino should shoulder himself and how much responsibility lies with his crew and employer, Costa Crociere, a division of the Miami-based Carnival Corp. Costa Crociere has denied negligence and has distanced itself from Schettino, firing him in July.

In all, nine people face the prospect of criminal trial, which would be unlikely to begin before next year.

The company's lawyer defended the ship's other crew.

"I believe that everything that came out yesterday -- and the conclusions drawn by the court appointed experts -- acknowledge that everything that could have been done by the Costa Concordia crew, was done," Marco de Luca, a lawyer for Costa Crociere, told NBC News, outside the courtroom. 

"The one fact that has been completely underestimated is that more than four thousand people were disembarked in a short period of time -- some two hours -- and this was done exclusively by Costa personnel.”

Praxilla Trabattoni and Claudio Lavanga of NBC News, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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GROSSETO, Italy -- The captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that crashed into an Italian reef appeared in court Monday to hear the evidence against him, while hundreds of passengers who survived the deadly shipwreck and the families of those who died in it showed up just "to look him in the eye."

The case of Francesco Schettino, 51, was of such enormous interest that a theater had to be turned into a courtroom in the Tuscan city of Grosseto to accommodate all those who had a legitimate claim to be at the closed-door hearing over the disaster.

As dozens of experts, lawyers and prosecutors packed the building, all eyes were on Schettino, who returned to Tuscany for the first time since his arrest to, in his own words, “Face my accusers.”

In the next few days, Schettino, the eight other people accused, and the many survivors and families of victims, will learn if he will face charges over the deaths of 32 people after his ship run aground off Giglio island on Jan. 13.

Schettino is accused of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship while passengers and crew were still aboard. He denies the accusations and has not been charged. Any trial is unlikely to begin before next year. 

“The sooner we can resolve it, the sooner the victims can get on with their lives, they can put this behind them. ... We are anxious to do that, but not so anxious to compromise on our will to change the industry for better standards,” John Arthur Eaves, Jr., an Alabama-based lawyer representing several American survivors of the disaster, told NBC News.

Monday’s hearing was the first and most important in a preliminary trial, aimed at establishing who should be indicted over the disaster.

Over the next few days experts, who were appointed at an earlier hearing in March, will present their analysis of the data retrieved from the black box, audio recordings and other on-board equipment.

The hearing is off limits to the media, and the only way to learn what is happening inside is through lawyers and witnesses who emerge from the theater during breaks.

Dramatic opening
Schettino himself has become a lightning rod for international disdain for having left the ship before everyone was evacuated.

As befitting a star attraction, the captain arrived Monday at the makeshift courthouse through the back door in a car with darkened windows.

Costa Concordia captain admits he was 'distracted' by phone call

"Schettino looked like he just walked out of a fashion magazine. He was dressed in a black suit, black tie, and was very tanned. He didn't betray any emotion, and took many notes,” Eaves told NBC.

Even the weather added to the sense of drama.

Codacons via Getty Images

In this handout image, data from the Costa Concordia's black box reveals the moment when Capt. Francesco Schettino said "let's leave the ship" in the moments after the cruise liner collided with rocks in Grosseto, Italy.

on October 15, 2012 in Grosseto, Italy. (Photo by Laura Lezza/Getty Images)

A massive storm, nicknamed Cleopatra by Italian meteorologists, hit Grosseto a couple of hours after the hearing began, dumping rain on members of the media waiting outside.

A group of German survivors said Schettino was seen biting his nails, and another witness claimed to have seen him shaking hands with another survivor.

"We want to look him in the eye to see how he will react to the accusations," said survivor Michael Liessen, 50, who was attending with his wife. 

Schettino is one of nine people facing charges, although eyewitnesses, leaked audio and video recordings, a pre-trial report and even the liner’s owners, Costa Crociere (a subsidiary of Miami-based Carnival), appeared to put the blame squarely on him.

Wider fault?
However, Eaves, the American lawyer, suggested the fault may lie wider.

"It was just said in court that musicians on board had more safety training than other crew members," Eaves told NBC.

Costa Concordia cruise ship captain says sacking unfair

“We are not going to save lives if we don’t change the standards in the whole industry, not only of this particular captain,” he added.

Slideshow: Luxury cruise ship runs aground

Remo Casilli / Reuters

The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers, ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy killing 32 people - including two Americans.

Launch slideshow

It is alleged Schettino was in command when he steered the gigantic ship too close to Giglio coastline, allegedly to perform a maritime salute to grant a favor to the ship’s head master, who was originally from the island.

The Concordia hit a reef, tearing a 160-ft. gash in her hull, taking in water and eventually running aground yards from the island’s port.

Video taken by passengers at the time showed scenes of chaos and confusion as the Costa Concordia started to list heavily.

In the intervening months, Schettino has sought to restore his reputation and set the record straight by giving his version of events.

His strategy has not met with widespread approval.

An angry member of an Italian consumer association told NBC News it would be raising a formal objection to Schettino’s presence in court.

“We are losing sight of the victims of this tragedy, but they could line the pockets of the shamed captain,” the member said.

Complete Europe coverage on NBCNews.com

Many questions
Expert evidence will have to address many questions, among them:

Did Schettino make a personal and fatal mistake in taking the ship too close to the island, or should, as he claims, the blame be shared with other crew members?

Did Schettino voluntarily abandon the ship hours before all passengers were evacuated?

Did he delay the call to abandon the ship, further endangering passengers?

Did he really save hundreds of lives by steering the ship as close as possible to the coast, as he claims, guided by a “divine hand”?

A pre-trial report, leaked to Italian media weeks before the trial, places much of the blame on Schettino.

Costa Concordia disaster spawns shipwreck tourism for Italian island

The 270-page report, compiled by maritime experts appointed by the court, reveals that the captain abandoned the Costa Concordia hours before the last of the passengers had reached safety and was slow in issuing the order to abandon ship and alerting port authorities.

But the experts -- two admirals and two engineers -- also note that evacuation drills had not been undertaken by all passengers on the ship and not all crew members understood Italian, the operating language of the liner.

“You find a consistent pattern of a lack of discipline on crew training, on the design of the vessel, on the communication problems. They go back to standards that were set up by Carnival in the United States. This captain made a horrible mistake, but we are not going to save lives if we don’t change the standards in the whole industry, not only of this particular captain,” Eaves said.

Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com

An Indonesian helmsman, for instance, failed twice to understand orders, veering to the right instead of the left as he was told by Schettino, who joked he should pay closer attention or “we will go on the rocks,” only minutes before they dram aground.

A local newspaper said Monday the captain’s lawyers told the judge and prosecutors to “consider the position of the helmsman.”

Schettino, they seem to suggest, was not the only one to blame.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Gregorio Borgia / AP

Tourists take photographs of the Costa Concordia wreckage as they arrive on a ferry to the Giglio Island, Italy, Thursday.

GIGLIO, Italy - Six months after it capsized off Italy’s Giglio island, the Costa Concordia still lies on its side – a monument to what prosecutors say was reckless navigation.

The 122,000-ton, 1,000 foot long cruise liner, which hit a rock and partially sank on January 13, claiming the lives of 32 people including two Americans, has become part of Giglio’s skyline.

For locals it has become an eyesore that stops them enjoying the view of the Tuscan shore. But for tourists it represents a perfect photo opportunity for their summer albums.

Every day, hundreds of tourists fill the regular ferries that connect the island from Porto Santo Stefano, the closest mainland port. It’s an hour-long crossing under the scorching summer sun - the roof deck becomes so hot you could cook pizza on its white floor - and yet everyone heads for the open top.

Slideshow: Luxury cruise ship runs aground

Remo Casilli / Reuters

The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers, ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy killing 32 people - including two Americans.

Launch slideshow

Armed with hats, sun cream and camera phones, they hope to glimpse the Costa Concordia even before they reach Giglio. “Can you see it from here?”, a tourist from Naples asks, excited. Yes, he can. The stricken ship lies only a few hundred yards from the port entrance, and the ferry sails right past its bow.

Once on shore, tourists head to the dock for a picture opportunity. But islanders are growing tired of this shipwreck tourism.

87-year-old Cecilia Cavero was born on the island and has lived there all her life. While sitting in the shade of a palm tree of the tiny port beach, she gives the tourists an angry look. “Every day I come here and that thing is there”, she says, pointing at the Concordia. “It’s heartbreaking. And those tourists come here for the day, take a picture and then leave.”

Costa Concordia captain admits he was 'distracted' by phone call

Her friend, Adele Ansaldo, 80, says she can’t avoid seeing it every single day. “It lies right in front of my house. Every day I open my windows and I see it. It’s sad to know there are still people in there,” she said, referring to the bodies of the last two victims yet to be found. “It’s heartbreaking”.

But others are not so bothered by the new landmark: “It has now become a symbol of the island”, fisherman Italo Arienti told msnbc.com. “But they forbid us to make souvenirs out of it”.

Norwegian tourist Jan Moe agrees. From a rock overlooking the Concordia, he says he didn’t even know it was there until he got to the island. But he doesn’t mind. “It’s good for tourism, isn’t it?”

Before the Concordia tragedy, Giglio was a hangout for the rich and powerful. But the wreck happened right where luxurious yachts, too big to enter the tiny port, used to dock. The yachts have now been replaced by packed ferries of tourists looking for a quick snap and a bite to eat. 

Some businesses have benefited: restaurants have never been so full, especially for lunch, and shops are selling out of souvenirs. But some locals say that the exploitation of the Concordia tragedy has already gone one step too far.

“Someone tried to print the wreck on t-shirts and postcards, and at some point they tried to make sell models of it”, Costanzo Basini, a former captain and souvenir shop owner, said. “It’s shameful, especially towards the relatives of the victims”.

The complicated process of removing the wreck has already started, but it will take at least 12 months before experts will be able to right the ship and tow it away.

On Friday, a memorial service will be held in the island’s church in the presence of survivors and relatives of the victims, and a concert will take place at 9:42 p.m. local time (3:42 p.m. ET) - the exact time the ship struck the rocks, six months ago.

In the meantime, Concordia remains its side awaiting its final voyage.

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Mediaset via AP

Francesco Schettino is pictured during an interview broadcast on Italian television on Tuesday.

GIGLIO, Italy  -  The captain of the cruise ship Costa Concordia has admitted he was distracted by a phone call at the time it capsized off Italy in January, killing 32 people - including two Americans.

Francesco Schettino gave his first interview on Tuesday night, after being released from house arrest by a judge.

Slideshow: Luxury cruise ship runs aground

Handout / Reuters

The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers, ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy. At least 25 people died in the accident, and rescuers continue to search for others missing.

Launch slideshow

He is accused of causing the accident by taking the liner too close to rocks near the island of Giglio, off Italy’s west coast – and of abandoning the liner while many passengers and crew were still aboard.

He told Italy’s Channel 5 he does not accept full blame for the wreck, but said: “I feel guilty for having been distracted.”

He was making a phone call to a man on shore – a retired captain he was in the process of saluting - when the accident happened, and that the navigation at that moment was under another officer's control.

Salvage plan for wrecked Costa Concordia unveiled in Rome

He apologized to his countrymen in the interview, saying: “It is normal that I should say sorry, that I should apologize.”

He said he thought about the victims a lot, and became emotional when reminded of five-year-old Daiana Arlotti, the youngest to die. “This question devastates me, it is terrible... Let's leave it-- please.”

Schettino said he turned the ship abruptly, after realizing it would hit rocks, in order to save lives.

“In the end I managed to avoid a frontal impact,” he said.

Court rules Costa Concordia captain unfit to run ship

He also insisted he did not intentionally abandon ship before everyone got off.

“The ground gave in below me, it was like the tremor of an earthquake, the floor gives in and what do you do?”

The Costa company, owned by Carnival, blames Schettino for taking the ship off course, then badly mishandling the aftermath.

Additional editing by Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com in London.

Laura Lezza / Getty Images

The Costa Condordia remains stricken after a further five bodies were found by a mechanical robot, two months after it ran aground on March 23, 2012 in Giglio Porto, Italy.

Italy's top appeals court ruled on Wednesday that Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Costa Concordia, was unfit to command the cruise liner which ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio in January, causing at least 30 deaths.

In a written explanation of its decision to maintain a house arrest order against Schettino, the Court of Cassation said he had shown "little resilience in performing command functions or in handling responsibility for the safety of persons under his care."

Schettino has been accused of wrecking the 126,215-ton liner by bringing it too close to shore, where a rocky ledge tore a gash in its side and made it keel over and sink. According to the court, he "has proven not to be able to handle a dangerous situation typical of his profession, despite the specific professional skills and experience."

Costa Concordia captain's blunders detailed in Vanity Fair

Investigators also accuse Schettino of delaying evacuation and losing control of the operation, during which he abandoned ship before all 4,200 passengers and crew had been taken off the vessel.

He has been charged with multiple manslaughter, causing the accident and abandoning ship prematurely. A pre-trial hearing was held in Grosseto, near Florence, in March.

The Court of Cassation said Schettino had shown himself unable to manage a crisis and to ensure the safety of his passengers and crew and said there would be a risk of a repeat of the disaster if he were given a command again.

That part of the ruling justified the decision to keep Schettino under house arrest at his home in Meta di Sorrento, near Naples in southern Italy, as a concrete danger of a recurrence must be shown for the arrest order to be upheld.

Thirty bodies were recovered and two are missing. The wreck lies on its side in some 20 meters of water within a stone's throw of the picturesque island port.

Salvage experts are expected to stabilize the wreck by August and then refloat it and remove it from the marine natural park off the Tuscan coast where it sank.

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UPDATED April 19, 7:25 p.m.: Princess Cruises says the captain of a cruise ship that passed by a disabled fishing boat in the Pacific Ocean last month without stopping was never told about the vessel or the three men aboard.

The company says in a statement Thursday that concerns raised by three birdwatchers who spotted the disabled boat were never passed on to Capt. Edward Perrin, or the officer of the watch.

Judy Meredith of Oregon says she told a sales representative who assured her he notified the bridge, but the ship did not stop.

Three men set out in a small boat from Rio Hato, Panama on Feb. 24. Two of them later died. Survivor Adrian Vasquez says he saw the ship and thought they were saved, but it kept going. 

Original story: A cruise line is investigating allegations by passengers that crew workers ignored their pleas to rescue three fishermen adrift in the Pacific Ocean, the Guardian of London reported.

The allegations cast an uncomfortable light on a hopeful story about the sole survivor of that fishing boat, an 18-year-old hotel worker who survived for 28 days aboard his 10-foot vessel, named the Fifty Cents. He was rescued near the Galapagos Islands, nine days after he had to push his friends’ bodies overboard.

Now cruise ship passengers say those boys could have been saved. Three bird watchers say they alerted the crew of the Star Princess, owned by Carnival Corporation, which also owned the Costa Concordia.

One of the bird watchers told her version of events to Don Winner, an English-language blogger from Panama who tracked down the survivor, Adrian Vasquez. Vasquez confirmed that he and his friends had seen the cruise ship and signaled frantically with his red T-shirt and orange life vest, the Guardian reported.  

The cruise line issued a statement about the allegations Tuesday: "At this time we cannot verify the facts as reported, and we are currently conducting an internal investigation on the matter.”

One bird watcher, Jeff Gilligan of Portland, Ore., told the Guardian that while scanning the ocean, he saw an object that looked like a little house.

“We then used spotting scopes with a fixed tripod and I could see this strange little boat and at least one person standing up waving a piece of cloth high over his head, up and down,” he said. "We could see it was not moving – there were nets pulled on to the boat and apparently no nets in the water. So we soon questioned – is this a stranded, disabled boat, signaling us for help?"

They contacted United States authorities when the boat did not turn around but nothing happened.

Vasquez was saved when a rainstorm hit a few days later, which allowed him to fill four gallons of water, the Daily Mail of London reported. He ate raw fish to stay alive.

He was ultimately rescued by fishermen working off a mother ship, the Duarte V.

After he slept and was fed and hydrated intravenously, Vasquez woke.

The captain of the Duarte told the Guardian that he reacted slowly but that he cast down his gaze when the subject of his friends arose.

Information from the Associated Press was included in this report.

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ROME -- Two bodies recovered from the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship have been formally identified as Americans Barbara and Gerald Heil from Minnesota.

The bodies were among five that were recovered in the past three weeks from the liner, which capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio after hitting rocks on January 13.

At least 30 people died and two are still unaccounted for.

Costa Concordia captain's blunders detailed in Vanity Fair

"Five bodies recovered from the Costa Concordia have been identified," said a statement from the Grosseto prefecture on Tuesday.

The other three were named as Christina Matheson Ganz and Norbert Josef Ganz, both Germans, and Giuseppe Girolamo, an Italian citizen and member of the crew.

A salvage operation to move the wreck, owned by Carnival Corp., is expected to begin next month.

More on Overhead Bin

• 5 more bodies found in Costa Concordia wreckage
• Cruise ship survivors sue cruise line for $460 million
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