thereafter, palander served on the ship "vanadis" on an expedition to the mediterranean in 1869–1870. he was subsequently promoted to lieutenant and was the ship's captain on the postal steamer "polhem", first during the winter of 1870–1871 between gotland and main land sweden, and then during 1871–1872 to secure the postal route across the øresund in severe winter conditions. he was also the ship's captain on the steamer "polhem" during nordenskiöld's winter expedition to the spitsbergen islands in 1872–1873, where he significantly contributed to the scientific work. from the base camp at mosselbay, palander and nine other men accompanied nordenskiöld on the unsuccessful attempt to reach the north pole in may–june 1873. upon return to sweden, palander's request for an honourable discharge from the navy was granted, and he took employment first as a captain on cargo ships en route to england, and later as a captain for a steamer line based in gothenburg.