An Italian appeals court has upheld the conviction and original prison sentence length of the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship.
Prosecutors had sought a 27 year and three month prison sentence to be handed to Captain Francesco Schettino at his trial, which concluded in February 2015.
Both the prosecution and defence appealed against the 16-year sentence handed out by the lower court.
But the appeals court today ruled the original sentence would remain in place, according to the ANSA news agency.
The prosecution sought to toughen the sentence while the defence argued that blame did not fall solely on Schettino.
The captain, who has admitted some responsibility but denied blame for the deaths that occurred during the evacuation after the ship's side tore on the rocky shore, did not attend court.
"The blame is shared, the problem is quantifying it," Schettino's lawyer Donato Laino said outside court after breaking the news to his client by telephone.
Asked whether Schettino had expressed bitterness, Laino said: "Certainly."
Schettino can appeal against the appeal court's ruling, which also bars him from working on a ship for five years.
The judges who delivered the first verdict ruled that he would not go to prison until the appeals process - which can take years in Italy - is complete.
The Costa Concordia capsized off Tuscany in 2012, killing 32 people.
Schettino was convicted of manslaughter and causing the shipwreck by colliding with a reef near tiny Giglio island and of abandoning the capsized vessel with people still aboard.
Additional reporting by agencies.
