In the early years of Soviet power, expeditions to the Barents and Kara Seas were organized, and this laid the foundations of navigation between the European part of the Soviet Union and the Siberian rivers Ob' and Yenisey. In the course of these voyages great quantities of goods were carried across the Arctic seas, which were to become important in the country's economy.

On 1 November 1951 Norsel sailed from Göteborg on her third voyage to Maudheim; this time to evacuate the expedition. On board were the personnel and two aircraft of a Swedish Air Force unit. Air reconnaissance had been carried out in the expedition's first season by a British R.A.F. Flight. In the second season a Norwegian commercial flying unit had done some photography, and in the final season it was the turn of the Swedes to provide these services. In preparation for this the writer, who commanded the unit, had accompanied Norsel on her second voyage, and had thus been able to study the area, and discuss plans with members of the expedition.

In 1955 Hunting Aerosurveys Ltd. were awarded a contract by the Colonial Office to carry out a survey of Graham Land and the South Shetland Islands. The survey was to be made by means of air photography and ground control. The base for the operation was at Port Foster, Deception Island, where an ice-free anchorage for flying boats could be expected during the summer months. The survey is to be continued in 1956–57.

In 1955 a new station was opened at Ile des Pétrels, off the coast of Terre Adélie, as part of the French contribution to the International Geophysical Year. The author and M. Vallette, who had planned the station at Port-Martin, investigated the properties of a number of prefabricated buildings in order to choose the most suitable type for the new station. The record of fires in polar buildings made it obvious that the materials used should, if possible, be non-inflammable in addition to being light, compact and easy to handle. Finally a metal type was selected, made by the firm of Fillod, Florange, Moselle. These buildings have many advantages. They are non-inflammable, and therefore fire breaking out inside them would be comparatively easy to control; in the fire at Port-Martin (in 1952) a hole had been burnt through the wooden roof of the hut and the forced draught so created, with the aid of a strong wind, made control of the fire impossible. These metal buildings are 30 per cent lighter, and far less cumbersome, than wooden prefabricated buildings of the same size. Fillod buildings had been in use on Ile Amsterdam since 1950 and Iles de Kerguelen since 1951 where they had successfully stood up to winds of 200 km./hour. The U.S. Navy had tested these buildings and proved that they could withstand weights of snow equivalent to 140 kg./sq.m. and a wind force of 160 km./hour. The average wind force at Ile des Pétrels was 34·2 km./hour.