The Norkova was a 24th century Federation Antares-class freighter. In mid-2369, the Norkova transported a load of extremely rare and extremely valuable deuridium from the Gamma Quadrant to starbase Deep Space 9, which in turn, was to be delivered to the Kobliad. Prior to the Norkova's arrival, the station's security personnel, aware of a possible Kobliad plot to hijack the deuridium, took several security precautions to prevent its theft.