- Francesco Schettino paints scene of chaos on the bridge at the time of the wreck
- Schettino: "This is the only chance I have to tell my version of events"
- Ship's captain, on the stand for the first time, denies charges of multiple manslaughter
- Thirty-two people died after the Costa Concordia hit rocks and capsized off Italy's coast
Grosseto, Italy (CNN) -- Francesco Schettino, captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship, took the stand for the first time Tuesday, combative and contradicting the testimony of not just his first captain but also what he has said in the past about the deadly shipwreck.
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.
He remained defiant even while painting a picture of confusion on board the ship as the disaster unfolded, pointing the finger at others for the chaotic evacuation of the ship's passengers.
Five of the captain's co-workers have already entered guilty pleas in the case, including officers who were on the ship.
These pleas may work against Schettino as he answers questions with regard to the co-workers' testimony before the court in Grosseto.
When shown the deposition given by his first captain, Ciro Ambrosio, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for a lighter sentence, Schettino was argumentative and gesticulated wildly.
The refloated wreck of the Costa Concordia is towed to the Italian port of Genoa on Sunday, July 27, to be scrapped, ending the ship's final journey two and a half years after it capsized at a cost of 32 lives. 
The Concordia is towed into the port of Genoa on July 27. 
Tugboats tow the wreck of the Costa Concordia as it leaves Italy's Giglio Island on Wednesday, July 23. 
A view from a porthole shows the wreck of the Costa Concordia as it's being towed on July 23. It'll take about two years to dismantle the massive cruise liner. 
The Costa Concordia cruise ship sits in front of the harbor of Giglio Island after it was refloated using air tanks attached to its sides on Tuesday, July 22. Environmental concerns prompted the decision to undertake the expensive and difficult process of refloating the ship rather than taking it apart on site. 
The ship's name appears above the water on Monday, July 21. The ship is expected to arrive in Genoa on Sunday, August 27. 
Tugboats pull the Costa Concordia after the first stage of the refloating operation on Wednesday, July 16. 
A small boat passes by the wreckage on Tuesday, July 15. 
Water is expelled from the caissons hooked onto the Costa Concordia on Monday, July 14. The ship will be towed north to the port in Genoa, Italy. 
Thirty-two people died when the 114,000-ton vessel, seen here on July 14, ran aground off Giglio in January 2012. 
In December 2013, crews managed to rotate the ship into an upright position. 
To float the ship, seen here on Thursday, June 26, crews attached 30 steel tanks to fill with compressed air. 
Ship captain Francesco Schettino, left, returned to the Concordia in February for the first time since he ran the liner aground. He is on trial on charges of manslaughter, causing a maritime disaster and abandoning ship with passengers still on board. He denies wrongdoing. 
Experts inspect the ship's damage in January. They boarded the vessel to collect new evidence, focusing on the ship's bridge and the onboard elevators. 
The wreckage of the Costa Concordia cruise ship sits near the harbor of Giglio on Tuesday, September 17, after a salvage crew rolled the ship off its side. 
The ship had been lying on its side for 20 months off the island of Giglio. Here, members of the U.S. company Titan Salvage and the Italian marine contractor Micoperi pass by the wreckage. 
Damage to the right side of the ship is apparent in September. 
Using a vast system of steel cables and pulleys, maritime engineers work on Monday, September 16, to hoist the ship's massive hull off the reef where it capsized. 
The project to upright the Costa Concordia continues on September 16. The nearly $800 million effort reportedly is the largest maritime salvage operation ever. 
A water line marks the former level of the stricken Costa Concordia as the salvaging operation continues on September 16. The procedure, known as parbuckling, has never been carried out on a vessel as large as Costa Concordia before. 
Members of Titan and Micoperi work at the wreck site early on September 16. 
Technicians work to salvage the half-submerged ship in July 2013. 
Giant hollow boxes have been attached to the side of the ship, seen here in May 2013. Attempts to refloat the ship will be aided by the compartments. 
A commemorative plaque honoring the victims of the cruise disaster is unveiled in Giglio on January 14, 2013. 
Survivors, grieving relatives and locals release lanterns into the sky in Giglio after a minute of silence on January 13, 2013, marking the one-year anniversary of the shipwreck. The 32 lanterns -- one for each of the victims -- were released at 9:45 p.m. local time, the moment of impact. 
A man holds an Italian flag on his balcony overlooking the port of Giglio on January 13, 2013. 
A man works in front of the shipwreck on January 12, 2013. 
A couple walks along the port of Giglio at night on January 12, 2013. 
A man sits in his boat in front of the half-submerged cruise ship on January 8, 2013. 
Cranes and floating decks surrounding the ship light up the dusk sky on January 9, 2013. 
Workers stand on the edge of the ship on January 8, 2013. 
A crew passes by the hulking remains on January 7, 2013. 
People enjoy a day in the sun with a view of the cruise liner on July 1, 2012. 
Military rescue workers approach the cruise liner on January 22, 2012. 
Members of the Italian coast guard conduct a search-and-rescue mission on January 21, 2012. 
Rescue operations to search for missing people resumed on January 20, 2012, after being suspended for a third time as conditions caused the vessel to shift on the rocks. 
The Costa Serena, the sister ship of the wrecked Costa Concordia, passes by on January 18, 2012. 
A bird flies overhead the Costa Concordia on January 18, 2012. Rescue operations were suspended as the ship slowly sank farther into the sea. 
The ship was sailing a few hundred meters off the rocky Tuscan coastline. 
An Italian coast guard helicopter flies over Giglio's harbor on January 16, 2012. 
Rescuers search the waters near the stricken ship on January 16, 2012. 
The Concordia, pictured on January 15, 2012, was on a Mediterranean cruise from Rome when it hit rocks off the coast of Giglio. 
The ship starts keeling over early on January 14, 2012. Evacuation efforts started promptly but were made "extremely difficult" by the position of the listing ship, officials said. 
Rescued passengers arrive at Porto Santo Stefano, Italy, on January 14, 2012. The Costa Concordia was carrying 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members. The Costa Concordia disaster
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Photos: The Costa Concordia disaster What Ambrosio told the court in his testimony is similar to the version of events Schettino has given in past TV interviews, but the captain contradicted that version in his testimony Tuesday.
Schettino's attorneys argued that what the captain has previously said on Italian TV cannot be used as evidence in court. The disputed testimony deals with such details as radar readings, who was on the bridge at the time of the accident and where those people were positioned.
Speaking to CNN during a court break, Schettino said he was confident about how his trial was progressing.
"It is exhausting, but I think it is going well," Schettino said of Tuesday's hearing. "It is important because this is the only chance I have to tell my version of events."
Asked if he thought the court was sympathetic to him, he said, "This is the first time I have had a chance to officially address the court personally so this should be the first time they should be judging me. I am confident."
His testimony is expected to continue Wednesday and probably one day next week.
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 some 4,200 people on board the ship.
Chaos on the bridge
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.
As assistant prosecutor Alessandro Leopizzi questioned Schettino, the captain described a scene of utter chaos on the bridge both before and after the accident.
At one point he explained how it was common to invite passengers and guests on the bridge, and said they often tipped him. "I said there couldn't be more than 12 people at a time," he said. "And they would bring 20, 30, 70 euro a tour."
He acknowledged frequently conducting flyby activities -- deviating from the planned route to go closer to certain places -- with his cruise ship. "It was favorable from a commercial aspect," he said.
When the prosecutor asked if he had ever done a flyby past Giglio before, he said he couldn't remember but might have passed close by.
'Not trying to blame anyone'
Schettino also explained why he chose Giglio on this occasion, telling the court that he thought retired Costa Capt. Mario Palombo was on the island.
When the prosecutor asked Schettino why he called Palombo and then why he asked Palombo how deep the coastal waters were, he said he was just making conversation.
Schettino recounted how he gave the orders to the helmsman, Jacob Rusli Bin of Indonesia, to go off course after using his binoculars to look ahead.
When asked if his helmsman caused the accident, he said: "I'm not trying to blame anyone. I'm just trying to explain the circumstances."
The captain has suggested Rusli Bin did not speak English or Italian well enough to understand his orders -- although audiotape played in court Tuesday appeared to contradict that.
Pushed as to why he used his binoculars instead of relying on the radar, Schettino said, "It was my habit to take my binoculars and look first. Not that I didn't trust the radar, but it was how I did it."
He was confident that the ship had enough room for the maneuver, he said.
In an audiotape played over the radar from the bridge extracted from the ship's data recorder, Schettino told his helmsman to turn, "otherwise we go on the rocks."
Asked why he made that comment, he said he was being ironic. "A few minutes later, I was told the danger we were in."
Alarm bells
Schettino appeared visibly shaken, putting his head in his hands, shortly after radar and audio recordings of the moment of impact were played in court.
Bells and alarms rang, and then the recording went offline.
The prosecutor asked Schettino about his last words captured on tape. "But where did we touch?" the captain asked, to which someone said, "Oh my dear God."
Schettino also will be cross-examined by a number of civil parties at the court.
They include the attorney for a Moldovan dancer who dined with the captain and was with him on the command bridge at the time of the shipwreck.
'Ready to defend his honor'
Before the hearing began, Schettino's attorney, Domenico Pepe, told CNN his client was ready to tell the truth.
"We have waited a long time to set the record straight," he said. "He is ready to defend his honor."
Schettino has repeatedly presented a defiant face over the shipwreck.
He has pointed the finger at the Costa cruise company for not providing maps with the rocks he hit appropriately marked.
Schettino has also blamed the ship, saying generators did not work so the elevators did not function, which hindered some people's escape.
Journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau reported from Grosseto, and CNN's Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London.
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