A sister and aunt of two passengers on board the lacking Titan submersible has mentioned the household's "sole focus" is their rescue.
Sabrina Dawood - the sister of businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, who's a passenger alongside together with his 19-year-old son Suleman - acknowledged the worldwide curiosity find her family.
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Speaking to Sky News she mentioned: "We are deeply grateful for the efforts of news agencies during this difficult time; your constant coverage of the missing Titan submersible is undoubtedly playing a large role in the world's ability to access relevant updates on the matter.
"At this time, the Dawood household's sole focus is the rescue of our beloved Shahzada and Suleman Dawood and we're unable to deal with any questions or feedback in the intervening time.
"We trust that the family will be granted privacy as we deal with this crisis.
"May Shahzada and Suleman return to us secure and sound.
"We are sure they would be as moved as we are by the support of the global community during this period of difficulty."
The Dawoods belong to considered one of Pakistan's most distinguished households, whose agency invests throughout the nation in agriculture, industries and the well being sector.
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Both Shahzada and Suleman Dawood are British residents.
Shahzada Dawood can also be a trustee on the SETI Institute - a Silicon Valley not-for-profit working in house exploration.
The Dawoods are two of five passengers on the small submersible operated by OceanGate - a US-based firm which gives crewed submersibles for business, analysis and exploration.
Other passengers embrace British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, OceanGate Inc CEO and founder Stockton Rush and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a former commander who served within the French Navy for 25 years.
Tickets for an expedition similar to this value $250,000 (£195,000) for an eight-day journey together with dives to the wreck.
Contact with the vessel was reportedly misplaced about an hour and 45 minutes after it submerged on Sunday within the Atlantic.
The distant location and depth are making the rescue mission significantly difficult.
US and Canadian ships and planes are concerned, but it surely stays unclear whether or not the Titan continues to be underwater or had surfaced and was unable to speak.
Oceanographer and knowledgeable Dr David Gallo, who describes the Titan's pilot, Mr Nargeolet, as his "best friend", said the timeline suggests something happened "mid-water".
The worst case state of affairs is "probably a collapse - a catastrophic implosion of the sub itself which would be horrific", Dr Gallo advised Sky News.
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