The Kamal was a Cardassian freighter which was in service in the early 24th century.
In 2344 the Kamal, with a cargo of Bajoran prisoners and the Orb of Memory, was passing through the Badlands when it was caught in a plasma eddy. The captain tried desperately to escape, cutting life support to the prisoner holds, but his efforts were unsuccessful. After a few days the entire crew died when power and life support failed. (DS9 - Avatar novel: Book One)
In 2357 the disappearance of the Kamal was raised in a discussion on the Bajoran situation between Guls Dukat and Trepar at a function at the State Museum of Natural History. Dukat noted that the Kamal had never been found and it, along with the orb, were presumed destroyed. Outside of the Cardassian military the Kamal's disappearance was unreported. (DS9 novel: Fearful Symmetry; DS9 - Avatar novel: Book One)
The Kamal remained undiscovered, tumbling in the plasma storm, for thirty-two years and four months until April 2376 when it was happened upon by the USS Enterprise-E. An away team was sent to investigate and suffered flashbacks, caused by the Orb of Memory which had been knocked open. Elias Vaughn found the orb and closed it and then returned with it to the Enterprise which returned the orb to Bajor. (DS9 - Avatar novels: Book One, Book Two)