Moving big things a long way

War History Online has an article about moving big subs:

The photo above is of two Russian submarines being transported through the Northern Sea Route from western to eastern Russia. The Northern Sea Route is where ships go through the Northern Arctic ocean when it’s free of ice.
This way, the journey is almost two and a half times shorter than if they go through the traditional sea route, starting in St. Petersburg, then to the Baltics, to the Mediterranean, to the Red Sea, to the Indian Ocean, across Southeast Asia to Japan, and then finally Vladivostok.
This long route is more than twenty thousand kilometers long, and was traditionally used if the ships from the western part of Russia wanted to reach the far eastern part of the country.
In the summer, they have an alternative and can take the Northern Sea Route, which is around ten thousand kilometers long.

Rico says some things you leave to the pros...