USS Orinoco The USS " Orinoco " was a 24th century Federation runabout operated by Starfleet . This ship , a replacement for , was assigned to Deep Space 9 . It was outfitted with a sensor pod during most of its missions . History . In 2370 , the " Orinoco " was assigned to Deep Space 9 , meant as a replacement for the previously destroyed . It was used to evacuate the station of all non - Bajoran personnel . ( ) During a plasma disruption that forced the evacuation of DS9 , the " Orinoco " was at Landing Pad C in case the skeleton crew had to leave in a hurry . Later , Verad planned to use the runabout to make his escape . ( ) Lieutenant Jadzia Dax and Ensign Melora Pazlar used the " Orinoco " to travel to the Gamma Quadrant where they conducted a survey of an unknown sector of space . The runabout was later hijacked by Fallit Kot , but Melora was able to subdue him by deactivating the artificial gravity . ( ) Shortly after stardate 47573 . 1 , Major Kira Nerys and Jadzia used the " Orinoco " to track down the , which had been reported traveling at warp 2 , unpiloted , in Sector 401 . When the " Orinoco " caught up with the " Rio Grande " , Dax used an old " Hopi rope - trick " with the " Orinoco " s tractor beam to force the " Rio Grande " out of warp . The " Orinoco " was later towed back to the Orellius system by the " Rio Grande " . ( ) Later , on stardate 47603 . 3 , Jadzia and Odo used the " Orinoco " to investigate a particle field in the Gamma Quadrant . They later detected omicron particle s from Rurigan ' s hologenerator . ( ) Later that year , the " Orinoco " , the " Rio Grande " , and the held a defensive position meant to prevent the Maquis from attacking Bryma , a Cardassian colony in the Demilitarized Zone . Kira and Dax piloted the " Orinoco " during the blockade . The " Orinoco " was attacked by one of the Maquis ships and had its sensor pod destroyed , as well as its navigational array damaged . Chief O ' Brien , aboard the " Mekong " , later assisted in the repairs of the " Orinoco " . ( ) In late 2370 , Chief O ' Brien outfitted the " Orinoco " with extra banks of photon torpedo es . It was piloted by Kira and Doctor Julian Bashir while it assisted the during its rescue attempt of Commander Benjamin Sisko , who was being held prisoner by the Dominion in the Gamma Quadrant . During the ensuing battle , the " Orinoco " helped lay down covering fire for the nearly - disabled " Mekong " , and later attempted to intercept the kamikaze Jem ' Hadar attack ship that destroyed the " Odyssey " . ( ) The " Orinoco " was destroyed by the Cardassian terrorist group the True Way in 2372 . The True Way had sabotaged the vessel by removing the warp core ejection system . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The listed this runabout with registry number NCC - 72905 . The reference work stated that the " Orinoco " was named after the river which , with a length of 2 , 410 kilometers , was one of the largest rivers of South America . In a draft of , O ' Brien looks for evidence that someone has tampered with the " Orinoco " with the intent of stealing it at a later time . ( " " ) In an article in " Billboard " in June 1994 , an article writer speculated that the " Orinoco " might have also been named after " Orinoco Flow " , a song by Enya : " " " According to those who should know , Enya may remain on the chart well into the 24th century . One of the runabouts on " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " is named the " Orinoco " . Yes , it ' s after the river , but surely the writers were inspired by Enya ' s first Hot 100 single , ' Orinoco Flow ( Sail Away ) ' " " . In 1994 , Playmates Toys issued a toy runabout " Orinoco " along with their line of action figures . The " " released the " Orinoco " as the " Danube " - class model of the magazine .