The prison sentence against the former captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner for his role in the deadly 2012 shipwreck has been upheld by an Italian court.
Both Francesco Schettino, who was commanding the ship when it hit rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio, killing 32 people, and the prosecutor had appealed against the 16 years and one month sentence handed down last year.
But the Florence appeals court upheld the term.
Schettino was found guilty last year by a different court of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his passengers in one of the highest-profile shipping disasters in recent years.
The ship had been carrying more than 4,200 people, including 3,200 tourists. The bodies of two of the victims have never found.
Schettino's lawyers had insisted the accident was primarily due to organisational failings for which the ship's owner, Costa Crociere, its Indonesian helmsman and the Italian coastguard should have shared the blame.
Costa Crociere avoided potential criminal charges by accepting partial responsibility and agreeing to pay a €1 million fine.
Schettino was not in court when the verdict was read out by presiding judge Grazia D'Onofrio.
He will not be jailed immediately pending a possible further appeal.
