The pilotage in the western rivers of the Amazon, PROA, as it’s known better, was founded in January 10th, 1993.

Proa is made of 23 pilots, all of them approved in contest realized by the directory of ports and coasts, department of the Brazilian Navy, in charge of supervising the services of pilotage in the whole country.

It’s headquarter is in city of Itacoatiara, about 270 km away from Manaus by road and about 102 sea miles away From Manaus down the Amazon River.

It has a branch in Manaus, located in Sa Peixoto Boulevard, 275-B, district of Educandos. It has a board of about 25 workers, including the administrative, the financial and the operational boards.

It uses it’s own speedboats to take the pilots on/off board. All of the speedboats are periodically ratified by the National council of Pilotage, CONAPRA, as well as it’s lookouts.

Proa has invested in all the things that can put it in the vanguard of all the important events in it´s performance area. Therefore, it keeps a working system of 24 hours a day, 356 days a year, in order to offer a better attendance to customers and suppliers. It has a SSB system of communication to monitor the ships that go into the rivers, specially the Solimoes River. It also has a VHF system that encloses the area between Manaus and Itacoatiara, keeping a constant update of the ship´s ETA. Therefore the customers program about their own ships is benefited.

When it comes specifically to the to boats that come in the Solimões River heading Tabatinga, brazilian border with Colômbia, the pilots are endowed satellite telephones, for in some parts of the way, better saying: during most of it, the communication signs are precarious.

During the last few years, PROA developed the AIRUWE PROJECT, wich consists of a speedboat named as the project, specially built to receive the most modern bathymetry equipment. Therefore, Pilotage keeps all the navigable canals in it´s ZP constantly monitored.

One of PROA main goals is to keep bringing, as much as the investments go further, a policy of minimal risk over navigation, human lives and the environment.