 He then sailed in the ship "Turku" on a whaling voyage that lasted from September 1852 to May 1857, which caught whales in the Gulf of Alaska, the East China Sea, the Sea of Japan, and the Sea of Okhotsk, and visited Honolulu, Ponape, and Guam for men and provisions.During this voyage he was promoted to chief officer and finally acting commander.Following this a whaling company in Helsinki gave him command of the brig "Storfursten Constantin" (214 registered tons), which sailed on a voyage that lasted nearly four years – from September 1857 to August 1861 – and cruised for bowhead whales in the Sea of Okhotsk during the summer and gray whales in the lagoons of Baja California in the winter, stopping at Honolulu, Guam, and Hakodate during the spring and fall for provisions.