ROME, July 17 (RAPSI) – Attorneys for Francesco Schettino, former captain of shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner, presented a second motion for settlement between the prosecution and the defendant, Italy’s Adnkronos news agency reports.

The defense team says Schettino is ready to plead guilty in exchange for  a sentencing mitigation. According to this motion, the captain will serve 3 years and 5 months in jail. The previous motion was declined by the Grosetto town court, where the proceedings are taking place.

The trial of the sunken cruise ship’s captain started on July 9. However, the first hearing lasted only for a couple of minutes, due to nationwide lawyers’ strike, which included Schettino’s defense.

The second hearing, taking place today, is attended by not only the captain, but former dancer, Moldovan national Domnika Czemortan, in whose company Schettino was reported at the time the tragedy took place.

The Costa Concordia sank off the coast of Giglio near Tuscany in Italy on the evening of January 13 last year, resulting in the deaths of 32 people and injuring hundreds of the 4,200 passengers and crew on board. Two people are still reported as missing. The liner is still lying in the water near Giglio.

Schettino is the only defendant in the trial. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all the passengers had been evacuated.