ROME, July 9 (RAPSI, Natalia Shmakova) - The trial of Francesco Schettino, the captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner, has opened in Grosseto, Italy, without the presence of defense attorneys, the local media reported on Tuesday.

Captain Schettino was present at the first, technical, hearing at the Moderno Theater. His attorneys are not present due to a national strike by lawyers. Subsequent hearings have been scheduled for July 17, 18 and 19.

The Costa Concordia sank off the coast of Giglio near Tuscany in Italy on the evening of January 13 last year, resulting in the deaths of 32 people and injuring hundreds of the 4,200 passengers and crew on board. Two people are still reported as missing. The liner is still lying in the water near Giglio.

Schettino is the only defendant in the trial. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all the passengers had been evacuated.