After Operation Substance Melbourne Star returned independently to Gibraltar and then crossed the Atlantic to Trinidad, where she arrived on 17 November 1941. Twelve days later she left and sailed independently back to Liverpool, where she arrived on 29 November. She seems to have spent Christmas 1941 and New Year 1942 in Liverpool, where she loaded a cargo for South Africa of armoured vehicles, motor transports, artillery, stores and two aircraft. She joined Convoy WS 15, which left on 10 January and reached Freetown on 25 January. Melbourne Star continued south, reaching Durban on 13 February.
