Easier plan:

Most people are capable of floating on the surface of the ocean. You just need to:

• optimize the path across land so the fewest number of people need to be in the ocean
• put all the babies, olds, and infirm people on land
• pack container ships to the gills with floaters
• dump them out in a line across the ocean

Granted you still need a bunch of ships but the complications around connecting them all are gone.