At 6:15 a.m. on the morning of May 4, 2002, the unique sounding whistle of the 858' M/V Roger Blough shattered the cool, early morning air in Duluth, MN as it signaled the master's salute of 1 long and 2 short blasts to the Aerial Lift Bridge. Soon after, the sun was just beginning to creep over the eastern horizon of Lake Superior as the Great Lakes Fleet vessel pulled into the Murphy Fuel Dock to refuel. After refueling, the Blough was then headed to load taconite pellets at the Missabe Dock in west Duluth.