The helmsman, Jacob Rusli Bin, is one of five Costa Crociere SpA employees who were granted plea bargains in return for mild sentences in a separate proceeding. He was convicted of manslaughter and causing the shipwreck, and was given a sentence of one year and 8 months.

The primary fault for the Costa Concordia disaster on January 13, 2012, was legally placed on Captain Francesco Schettino. In 2015, an Italian court found him guilty of multiple counts of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning his ship while passengers were still on board. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The court determined that Schettino's decision to perform a "sail-past" salute—bringing the massive 114,000-ton vessel dangerously close to the island of Giglio—led directly to the ship striking a reef. While the defense argued that crew communication errors and mechanical failures of the emergency generators contributed to the chaos, the judicial panel ruled that the Captain’s gross negligence was the root cause. The cruise line, Costa Crociere, was not held criminally liable but was ordered to pay a 1-million-euro fine and reached various settlements with the victims and the Italian government.