Rome (CNN) -- Judges in the trial of the captain of the wrecked cruise liner Costa Concordia agreed Wednesday to his request for a new examination of the ship, Costa Cruises spokesman Davide Barbano told CNN from inside the court.
Lawyers for Capt. Francesco Schettino had asked the panel of three judges on Monday for permission to tour the ship's bridge and engine room as part of a defense strategy he says will prove Schettino was not the only person responsible for the disaster.
The move could delay the legal process for months.
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Schettino's defense is trying to prove that the ship's watertight doors did not function properly, and that is the reason the ship sank, leading to the loss of 32 lives during the evacuation.
The wreckage of the Costa Concordia cruise ship sits near the harbor of Giglio, Italy, on Tuesday, September 17, after a salvage crew rolled the ship off its side. The Costa Concordia ran aground off Giglio in January 2012, killing 32 of the 4,200 people on board.
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A special team of divers will have to examine parts of the ship which are still under water, including the engine room and watertight doors.
The liner, which crashed on the rocks off Giglio Island in January 2012, was rotated back to vertical last week after well over a year resting on its side. The unprecedented maneuver, called parbuckling, exposed a twisted mass of metal dotted with mattresses, passenger luggage and deck chairs on the ship's previously submerged starboard side.
Now that the Concordia is upright, there can be further investigation of the captain's alleged mishandling of the ship.
Defense lawyers for Schettino agreed with lawyers representing more than 200 civil parties against the captain, including Giglio Island and several passenger and environmental advocacy groups, in asking for a new examination of the ship.
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Prosecutors are expected to argue that Schettino's decision to take the cruise liner off course is what caused the loss of life, not secondary mistakes or malfunctions.
Schettino also argued Monday that Indonesian helmsman Jacob Rusli Bin's failure to understand his command to turn away from the rocks led to the crash.
Rusli Bin and four others were convicted in a plea deal in July for their role in the disaster. A Florence court is considering the validity of those plea bargain agreements.
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The ship had been lying on its side for 20 months off the island of Giglio. Here, members of the U.S. company Titan Salvage and the Italian marine contractor Micoperi pass by the wreckage.
Damage to the right side of the ship is apparent in the early hours of September 17.
Using a vast system of steel cables and pulleys, maritime engineers work on Monday, September 16, to hoist the ship's massive hull off the reef where it capsized.
The project to upright the Costa Concordia continues on September 16. The nearly $800 million effort reportedly is the largest maritime salvage operation ever.
A water line marks the former level of the stricken Costa Concordia as the salvaging operation continues on September 16. The procedure, known as parbuckling, has never been carried out on a vessel as large as Costa Concordia before.
Members of the U.S. salvage company Titan and Italian firm Micoperi work at the wreck site early on September 16.
Technicians work to salvage the half-submerged ship on July 7. Nearly 500 workers are involved in an operation to remove the wreck while protecting the marine environment.
Giant hollow boxes have been attached to the side of the ship, seen on May 27, 2013. Attempts to refloat the ship will be aided by the compartments.
A commemorative plaque honoring the victims of the cruise disaster is unveiled in Giglio on January 14, 2013.
Survivors, grieving relatives and locals release lanterns into the sky in Giglio after a minute of silence on January 13, 2013, marking the one-year anniversary of the shipwreck. The 32 lanterns -- one for each of the victims -- were released at 9:45 p.m. local time, the moment of impact.
A man holds an Italian flag on his balcony overlooking the port of Giglio on January 13, 2013.
A man works in front of the shipwreck on January 12, 2013.
A couple walks along the port of Giglio at night on January 12, 2013.
A man sits in his boat in front of the half-submerged cruise ship on January 8, 2013.
Cranes and floating decks surrounding the ship light up the dusk sky on January 9, 2013.
Workers stand on the edge of the ship on January 8, 2013.
A crew passes by the hulking remains on January 7, 2013.
People enjoy a day in the sun with a view of the cruise liner on July 1, 2012.
Military rescue workers approach the cruise liner on January 22, 2012.
Members of the Italian coast guard conduct a search-and-rescue mission on January 21, 2012.
Rescue operations to search for missing people resumed on January 20, 2012, after being suspended for a third time as conditions caused the vessel to shift on the rocks.
The Costa Serena, the sister ship of the wrecked Costa Concordia, passes by on January 18, 2012.
A bird flies overhead the Costa Concordia on January 18, 2012. Rescue operations were suspended as the ship slowly sank farther into the sea.
The ship was sailing a few hundred meters off the rocky Tuscan coastline.
An Italian coast guard helicopter flies over Giglio's harbor on January 16, 2012.
Rescuers search the waters near the stricken ship on January 16, 2012.
The Concordia, pictured on January 15, 2012, was on a Mediterranean cruise from Rome when it hit rocks off the coast of Giglio.
The ship starts keeling over early on January 14, 2012. Evacuation efforts started promptly but were made "extremely difficult" by the position of the listing ship, officials said.
Rescued passengers arrive at Porto Santo Stefano, Italy, on January 14, 2012. The Costa Concordia was carrying 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members.
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