Take your car and drive through Sri Lanka

CHENNAI: With a view to provide tourists visiting Colombo via a ship from Tuticorin with a unique holiday experience, Flemingo Liners, the international passenger ferry service operating in the sector, has launched a “Drive in-Drive out” facility on its vessel Scotia Prince.According to the ferry operator, this new facility will enable tourists to take their vehicles with them on the ferry and drive around at the destination.The first passengers to avail of this facility on board the Scotia Prince were two Australians who used the facility to travel from India to Sri Lanka. They had obtained the certificate from the Australian Automobile Association.P K Thimmayya, CEO, Flemingo Liners, said, “We are happy to add a new dimension to the travel itinerary and are hopeful that this will open up an entirely new category of clientele who would like to travel with their own car into Sri Lanka and vice versa.”  “The vehicles would be checked inside the ship as registered baggage which the passenger can then claim on reaching their destination,” he said.To avail this facility, passengers (tourists) need to obtain the ‘Carnet de Passage’ document (costing around Rs 5,000) from the Automobile Association of India. On reaching Sri Lanka, the passengers should approach the local Automobile Association to obtain a temporary registration certificate to go around the country in the vehicle.Tourists should bear in mind that they should return within six months to a year and must provide a bank guarantee. The tourists need to be a member of the Automobile Association, which would charge Rs 4,412 for a lifetime membership. They also need to get their vehicles inspected and have to declare the tools they are taking with them.