The USS Passaro (NCC-52670) was a Sabrerunner-class Federation starship, formerly operated by Starfleet before it was appropriated by Nick Locarno for his Nova Fleet in the late 24th century. It appeared to have been disused for long enough that Starfleet did not notice that Locarno had stolen it.
In 2381, the Passaro was docked within Nova Fleet's space station in the Detrion system. After seizing a Ferengi-made Genesis Device from Locarno, Lieutenant jg Beckett Mariner took control of the ship using her mother Captain Carol Freeman's command code and fled. Unable to leave the system due to its Trynar shield, she evaded her pursuers by hiding the Passaro within the icy rings of a planet.
The Passaro and Nova One inside the ion storm
With the ship's condition beginning to deteriorate and Nova Fleet still in hot pursuit, Mariner attempted to reach the lifeless Detrion 9 to detonate the Genesis Device there, but en route she was cornered by Nova Fleet and forced into a level 7 ion storm. Only Locarno, aboard Nova One, was willing to follow her inside. After a short game of cat and mouse, he located and disabled the Passaro. Out of options, Mariner activated the Genesis Device, just before Locarno beamed aboard to confront her.
As Locarno prepared to kill Mariner, she was unexpectedly beamed aboard the Cerritos captain's yacht; unknown to her, while the Passaro and Nova One were in the ion storm, the USS Cerritos had breached the Trynar shield using a derelict Orion destroyer as a battering ram, allowing the captain's yacht to enter the system to rescue her. Locarno refused to evacuate, confident that he could disarm the Genesis Device, only to find himself stymied by a paywall in the final seconds. The ensuing explosion destroyed the Passaro and incorporated its matter into a new planet. (LD: "Old Friends, New Planets")
The name of this ship honors the late Fabio Passaro, and the registry reflects his birthday: May 26, 1970. Passaro was a prolific Eaglemoss Collections mainstay, for which he had created countless Star Trek CG models and their associated CAD files needed for display model manufacture.
According to Brad Winters, the Passaro is not Steamrunner-class, but rather a Sabrerunner-class ship, which combines "Steamrunner aesthetics at a Saber-class size." [1] The episode's audio description still describes it as Steamrunner class.