The Captain of the sunken Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino has apologised to survivors of the incident after facing victims for the first time since the sinking of the ship at a court hearing earlier this week.

Appearing in court to decide whether he should face a full trial, the Captain reportedly shook hands with survivors before apologising for the event, Asia One News reported.

During court held in Grosseto, Tuscany, the Captain relived the event, listening to black box data, recorded during the final few moments before the ship hit rocks off the island of Giglio.

The Captain and his second-in-command were reportedly shouting out for crew to steer in opposite directions with Captain Schettino shouting “Hard to port”, while his first officer advised, “Hard to starboard”, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. 

The black box recording continued, with the Captain later advising his staff to swing the rubber hard to starboard – “otherwise we go on the rocks”.

After hitting the rocks, the chief officer of the engine room could be heard explaining that water levels were rising fast, to which the Captain responded: “So are we really going down? I don’t understand”.