ROME, April 10 (UPI) -- Costa Cruises agreed Wednesday to pay $1.3 million in a plea bargain in an Italian court that would end its criminal liability for the Costa Concordia wreck.
The payment, 1 million euros, was described as an "administrative sanction," the Italian news agency ANSA reported. The captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, still faces criminal charges.
The Costa Concordia ran aground on a reef off the Italian island of Giglio in January 2012, with 32 people killed in the ship wreck. Schettino, who allegedly took the vessel close to the island in a gesture to a friend, was nicknamed "Captain Coward" for abandoning ship.
Costa Cruises is a subsidiary of the company that also owns the Carnival Cruise Lines. The company has been sued in the U.S. courts and elsewhere.
