l just finished watching a documentary on Discovery about a helicopter that was transporting workers to an off shore oil platform in the North Atlantic sea.The helicopter was downed by a severe lightning strike.Considering the safety issues raised by weather and ocean conditions, would not it be safer to transport crews using submarines?

Sure but the cost would be astronomical. It is just like the commercial airlines. For the tens of thousands of people on helo is everyday there are few or no accidents compared to the same number of people driving cars to work everyday.

The cost notwithstanding, transferring the people between the submarine and the platform would be very dangerous. The submarine is not highly maneuverable at slow speeds which is needed for this operation and has a narrow, wave washed deck area.