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Francesco Schettino, captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship, faced questions over the change of course that led to the sinking as he took the stand for the first time Tuesday in a multiple manslaughter trial, CNN reported.

The prosecutor opened the questions, which will be followed by a cross-examination by a number of civil parties at the court in Grosseto.

They include the attorney for a Moldovan ballerina who dined with the captain and was with him on the command bridge at the time of the shipwreck. She now accuses him of ordering a helicopter to escape that fateful night.

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.

The cruise liner capsized after it struck rocks off Italy's Giglio Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea in January 2012. No one died on impact but 32 lives were lost during the subsequent chaotic evacuation of the 4,200 people on board the ship.

This will be the first time the captain himself has given his side of the story in court.

Schettino was sworn in under a giant sign reading "the law is equal for everyone" in a makeshift courtroom in Grosetto's red velvet Teatro Moderno.

Assistant prosecutor Alessandro Leopizzi then began questioning Schettino, who struggled not to slip into Neapolitan dialect during his answers.

The captain explained that it was not uncommon to take a cruise ship off course.

When the prosecutor asked if he had ever done a flyby past Giglio before, he said, "Honestly I don't remember if I had done this before. Maybe I passed close by."

Schettino was shown his ship's log books and said he wasn't used to deciphering what they meant.

When shown the Costa Concordia plan for the night of January 12, 2012, the prosecutor asked why he didn't log the deviation in course toward Giglio. Schettino replied: "The data means nothing, it is just a plan we file and sign."