Like the other passengers of the missing submersible, Shahzada Dawood loves adventure.

For the British Pakistani businessman, 48, who boarded the vessel with his son, Suleman, 19, the expedition to the wreck of the Titanic followed a years-long passion for science and discovery, according to friends and family.

“Travelling and science, are part of his DNA,” said Ahsen Uddin Syed, a friend of Dawood who used to work with him at the Engro Corporation, a business conglomerate where Dawood is the vice chairman.

Syed said that Dawood loves Star Trek and Star Wars, and is also fond of nature, often travelling to faraway places and sharing pictures of his adventures.

“He is an explorer,” Syed said.

Like his father, Suleman Dawood also loves science fiction, according to a statement from Engro. He also plays volleyball and takes a keen interest in solving Rubik’s Cubes.

The elder Dawood’s Instagram profile is blanketed with high-definition pictures of birds, flowers and landscapes, ranging from Greenland’s ice sheet to penguins in the Shetlands to a tiny bird in London with the caption “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”.

New York Times News Service