Billionaire Shahzada Dawood, one of the five people on board a missing submersible vessel off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada obtained Maltese citizenship in 2016.

The news was first reported by the Times of Malta on Wednesday.

According to publicly available documents, records showed that Dawood became a Maltese citizen at the same time as his parents, Hussain and Kulsum Dawood, with other members of his family following suit the following year, it was reported.

The UK’s Companies House register also lists him as a Maltese national.

Dawood, 48, comes from one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families, and serves as the vice-chairman of Engro Corporation, a conglomerate founded and chaired by his father, Hussain.

He also does work for a number of philanthropic organisations, including the space exploration-focused SETI Institute and Prince's Trust International.

Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman were aboard a small submersible vessel, the Titan, that was exploring the Titanic shipwreck when it went missing off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, on Sunday.

Times of Malta also reported that sources with knowledge of Malta’s citizenship procedures said that Dawood obtained a Maltese passport through the Individual Investor Programme, which provides wealthy investors with a path to EU citizenship.

Dawood’s and his family’s connection to Malta is not known, as the Citizenship lists published each year by government do not make a distinction on those who obtain citizenship through naturalisation, marriage or investment schemes.

The Canadian coast guard, US coast guard and the US navy are currently racing against time in a massive search and rescue operation, in an effort to locate the submersible before it runs out of oxygen supply.

Reports early on Wednesday said that underwater “banging sounds” had been detected in the North Atlantic, near where the craft vanished. The search and rescue operation has proven difficult as the Titan went missing at a depth which few vessels can reach.