A court has convicted the Costa Concordia’s commander of the manslaughter of 32 people in the liner’s capsize and sentenced him to 16 years in prison.

The court blamed Francesco Schettino on Wednesday for causing the 2012 shipwreck and for abandoning ship while his passengers and crew were still aboard.

Captain Schettino’s prison term was 10 years for the deaths of passengers and crew members, five years for causing the shipwreck when he steered too close to Giglio Island, one year for abandoning the vessel with hundreds still aboard and one month for giving false information about the gravity of the collision.

The punishment was 10 years short of what prosecutors sought and left some survivors asking if justice had been done.

Cap Schettino chose not to attend court for the verdict.

The judge rejected a prosecution request for his arrest, noting he still had two levels of appeals to exhaust before serving his sentence.