Nearly a month after tanker engineer Muhammad Hammad Obaida was killed in an attack off the coast of Oman, his family in Karachi is still waiting for his body to come home. The Hammad Obaida remains case now rests on DNA testing in Oman, and the family says no Pakistani authority has yet collected a sample from them to speed the identification up.
Mr Obaida, 34, was a third engineer aboard the Panama-flagged oil tanker MT El Gaia. The vessel came under attack on September 13, north of Oman’s Musandam peninsula, near the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters reported that the tanker was towed to an Omani port about five days later.
Hammad Obaida remains: two seafarers, one long wait
The El Gaia carried 25 crew members, 14 of them Indian and 11 Pakistani. Rescuers brought 23 men ashore. Two crew members were missing: Mr Obaida and Indian seafarer Sumit Kumar. Their bodies were found days after the attack, after a headcount showed that both men were unaccounted for. The fire had broken out in the engine room area, where Mr Obaida was on duty.
US and Iranian authorities have traded blame over the strike, and accounts of the incident still conflict. What is not in dispute is the outcome for the two families. When Dawn asked about the case, the Foreign Office confirmed that the bodies of a Pakistani and an Indian seafarer were lying in a hospital mortuary in Oman. It said the bodies were severely disfigured, so DNA testing was necessary, and that this was delaying the repatriation of both men.
His brother Fawwad said the Pakistani embassy in Oman had confirmed that two bodies were awaiting DNA testing. However, no official had taken a DNA sample from the family. He added that he was in touch with Vivek, the brother of Sumit Kumar, whose body was found alongside his brother’s.
A family that heard the news from a colleague
Mr Obaida left home on September 6 for this tour of duty. A day before the attack, he spoke to his mother on a video call and showed her around the ship. The family learned what had happened from one of his colleagues on September 26, almost two weeks after the attack.
His mother, Ather Pervaiz, said the family had accepted God’s will. Still, she asked for one thing: that his remains be brought home so the family can give him a respectful burial. His widow is expecting their second child. His son Musa is three years old.
Fawwad said the family had written countless letters and had contacted the Pakistan Embassy in Oman, the Foreign Office and the prime minister through social media. They had received no clear official response, he said. The Sindh government told them the matter was in the government’s knowledge. Mr Obaida was a qualified marine engineer and a graduate of Glasgow University in the United Kingdom.
A familiar wait for Pakistani seafarers’ families
The wait will sound familiar to anyone who followed the MT Honour 25 case, which this newsroom covered from the hijacking to the homecoming, starting with the move to bring the MT Honour 25 sailors home after the tanker was recovered. In that case, the crew arrived in Karachi with three remains and the last three Pakistani crew members were rescued and flown to Addis Ababa. Dawn published the Obaida family’s account just days after those sailors were reunited with their families, which is why its report framed him as another slain seaman whose family is still waiting.
Attacks on shipping near Hormuz have kept Pakistani and Indian seafarers in danger all autumn, including the rescue of five Indians after the tanker Kazimah III was struck in the strait. For the Obaida family, the next step is simple and practical. A DNA sample taken in Karachi, matched in Oman, is what stands between them and a burial at home. (Source: Dawn)
Frequently asked questions
Who was Muhammad Hammad Obaida?
He was a 34-year-old Pakistani marine engineer from Karachi. He served as third engineer on the Panama-flagged tanker MT El Gaia and was killed when the vessel came under attack off Oman on September 13.
Why have his remains not been returned yet?
The Foreign Office says the two bodies recovered in Oman were severely disfigured, so DNA testing is needed for identification. The family says no Pakistani authority has yet collected a DNA sample from them.
How many crew members were on the MT El Gaia?
The tanker had 25 crew members, 14 Indian and 11 Pakistani. Omani rescuers brought 23 ashore. Mr Obaida and Indian seafarer Sumit Kumar were the two men who died.
