Billionaire on missing Titanic submarine had sourced jet to transfer cheetahs to India

Hamish Harding (left) posted a video in September 2022 about the cheetahs transfer from Namibia to India. (Photo credit (left): Screengrab from video posted on facebook.com/ActionAviationChairman).

British adventurer Hamish Harding was reported to have been missing on a submersible that was diving to the wreckage of the Titanic.

During the weekend, Harding had posted on social media that a ship had set sail from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada en route to the Titanic wreck. Harding and the rest of the crew were scheduled to begin diving operations in the  submersible at around 4 am local time.

Even as search operations to find Harding begin, in an old video shared on his Facebook page in September 2022 Harding could be heard speaking about the transfer of the cheetahs from Namibia to India.

"Well, we are here in Windcock, Namibia. We have arrived in the Boeing 747 from the UAE and we are all ready for the cheetahs to load in the next 48 hours. We are just practicing now to make sure the cheetahs boxes can get on board through the doors and plan the securing of the cheetahs in the cabin and everything is on track for the reintroduction of cheetahs into India for the very first time in more than 75 years. We are all very excited," Harding said in the video.

In September last year, on his birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs into the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Addressing the country on the occasion, PM Modi had said India will follow international guidelines to ensure the animals settle in their new surroundings.

Also read: Namibian cheetahs to be brought to India in customised jumbo jet