The Okana Shipyards is a collection of large starship construction yards located on the surface of Bajor in the Okana desert. The yards consist of a number of pits with large arches over one kilometer in height sitting over the pits. The Okana Shipyards were one of the most famous locations on Bajor, with a number of works of literature written about the yards.
During the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, yard administrator Amkot Groell kept the yards open by convincing the Cardassians that he was operating a museum - an act which caused him to be seen as a collaborator by his fellow Bajorans. As a young woman, Kira Nerys visited the yards.
After the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor, the Bajorans began looking to rebuild their shattered economy. While they had an orbital yard, it had been destroyed by the Cardassians. The Bajorans decided to reopen the Okana Shipyards, and in 2370 they accepted a contract from the United Federation of Planets to build an Ambassador class starship for Starfleet. This ship - named the USS Hannibal - was the first to be constructed at the yards in many years. Despite an assassination attempt against Commander Benjamin Sisko and Major Kira and the brief theft of the antimatter shipment for the Hannibal, the ship was successfully launched.
Seeing the Hannibal launched, Commander Sisko predicted that Starfleet would order more ships from the Bajorans. The successful lanuch was marred by the suicide of Amkot Groell shortly afterwards.(DS9 novel: Antimatter)