UK based father and son were onboard missing Titanic submersible, family confirms

A UK based father and son were onboard missing Titanic submersible, family has confirmed.

The father and the son on the submersible that takes paying customers on a tour of the Titanic wreck site that went missing have been confirmed as hailing from the UK.

The colossal Titanic ship, which sank after hitting an iceberg in April 1912, currently rests on a site of several miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean around 600km (370 miles).

Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, were on the missing vessel, according to their family.

The family of Shahzada Dawood said: "Our son Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, had embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean.

Everett Collection Inc./Alamy Stock Photo

"As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available.

"We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time."

OceanGate, the company that takes tourists to visit the wreck of the Titanic, has confirmed that five crew members were on-board a submersible that has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean.

In a statement, the company - which can charge tourists as much as $250,000 for a seven-day excursion to the Titanic wreck site - said that it is ‘exploring and mobilising all options’ to get the crew back safely.

The statement reads: “Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families.”

They added that ‘extensive assistance’ is being provided by ‘several government agencies and deep sea companies’ in order to find the submarine.