History

The SCHANDY family formerly from Risör, a small fisherman port in southern Norway, has been greatly entailed with the sea since its origins, forging captains, ship owners, seamen and tradesmen in all the generations. The Schandy name goes back to the XVI Century with Irish Dion SHANNON (1773), whose son THOMAS DION SCHANDY emigrated to Risör, Norway.

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His great grandson THOMAS JOHN SCHANDY emigrates from Risör to South America at the beginning of the XX Century, establishing on 1912 at the Port of Montevideo. He married to the daughter of a Spaniard, Master of the dredger related to the construction of the Port of Montevideo.

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Ever since his arrival he worked in the shipping area and on the 31st March, 1948 and with over 30 year experience in shipping, he founded his own Shipping Agency that takes his name until today. He worked as a shipping agent for fishing, whalers, scientific vessels and regular shipping lines.

He was named Consul of Norway in 1958

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His son, ERLING R. SCHANDY joins the Shipping Agency in 1962, after having worked at the Montevideo Lloyd’s Agency in 1943.  In 1970, out of more than forty applicant top companies of the Uruguayan market, the Agency was appointed Survey and Claim Settling Agents for:

• THE INSTITUTE OF LONDON UNDERWRITERS - ILU (now International Underwriters Association of London - IUA)
• LLOYD'S OF LONDON
• Central Committee Des Assureurs Maritimes de France (now CESAM)
• Agents for various English, French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese insurance companies, etc.
• Correspondents for various P&I Clubs.
• As a keen yachtsman he was a volunteer crewmember with the local Lifeboat Association ADES.
• Vice President of the Environmental Preservation Institution, founded in 1971 (Uruguay pioneer on this matter by creating this institute by law)
• Founding member and President (1988/1989) of the Uruguayan Maritime Law Association.

His vast experience in marine insurance as well as in P&I matters are the basis on which the company continues working today.

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His three daughters, SOLVEIG SCHANDY, KAREN SCHANDY and KIRSTEN SCHANDY joined the company in 1985, 1980 and 1995 respectively, all being conversant with the different departments of claims, settlements, recoveries and P&I matters.

Today the company is successfully run by the above mentioned ladies, third generation of the family, who confront the challenge of working in this new millennium, which brings along the globalization, merges of companies and a world of hard competition.

In 2008 the three sisters founded WISTA URUGUAY and 2014 this Agency was appointed Correspondent for the American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU) and several more P&I Clubs.