The captain of an Italian cruise ship that wrecked in January, killing 32 people, entered court Monday to hear evidence against him as a dozen survivors looked on.

It was the first time that passengers who made it through the Costa Concordia disaster saw Francesco Schettino face-to-face.

He faces allegations of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, abandoning ship, failing to report an accident to the coast guard and destroying a natural habitat, a prosecutor said earlier this year. The ship struck rocks and turned on its side off the Italian island of Giglio on January 13.

Schettino was released from house arrest in July. He was fired last week by the Costa Crociere parent company, Italian news agency ANSA reported.