A father of five is pictured among those missing after the sinking of the freighter Verity

A father of five is among those missing on board the cargo ship ‘Verity’, which sank off the coast of Germany.

The British freighter, which was en route to Immingham, Lincolnshire, collided with a larger freighter on Tuesday and sank in the North Sea.

It is believed that the four missing persons, including Filipino father Docenito Paler Jnr. from Tangub City, Philippines, are trapped in the ship’s hull.

His friend James Arnold told MailOnline today: “We would like to know if he is still alive because he has five children, the youngest of whom is a toddler.”

“The sad thing is that before he boarded, his son told him to stay home and not go back to work.

“He’s a good friend and we just want to know if he’s alive or trapped in the ship.”

One person on board, originally from Ukraine, died, whose body was recovered shortly before noon on Tuesday.

Two others were rescued after being found in the sea and are now receiving medical treatment in Germany.

Rescue teams have now stopped searching for the four others.

Attempts to comb the North Sea failed yesterday due to heavy fog and three-metre high waves.

The rescue attempt involved several ships and aircraft.

Divers were also sent to the seabed to look for signs of life.

The two ships collided around 5 a.m. local time on Tuesday, 12 nautical miles southwest of Helgoland, a small rocky island north of Germany.

The Verity left Bremen at around 7pm on Monday for Immingham, a major trading port in Lincolnshire.

A spokesperson for Faversham Shipping, the shipping company that owns the MV Verity, said they could not currently confirm the people on board the affected ship but hoped to comment in due course.

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