Herakles (pusher) the fuel supply and lubrication system due to the violent pitching of the vessel were not ruled out. On 2 March 2004 the weather in the Bothnian Sea gradually developed into a force 10 storm on the Beaufort scale, with average wind speed around and gusts exceeding . At midnight, shortly before "Herakles-Bulk" sank, the ten-minute average at Svenska Högarn was with three-second gusts of almost . The freezing temperatures combined with strong wind and high waves resulted in fast icing of the ship structures. In 1992 the Finnish Maritime Administration issued a wind limit of for "Herakles" due to
1887 Halloween tropical storm the storm was in Virginia. Cape Henry was hit with a combination of wind, rain, and blown sand on October 31 and communications between Cape Henry and Norfolk were lost. In Norfolk, the storm was the longest-lasting and most damaging since the Great Beaufort Hurricane of 1879. The storm conditions made beaches in the area so hazardous that they were watched day and night. Effects from the storm reached as far north as Provincetown, Massachusetts, where winds of were recorded. Despite causing damage along the East Coast, the storm is best known for causing a record number of maritime incidents.