An Iranian Cargo Ship Carrying 136,000 Tons of Oil has Sunk to the Ocean Floor Off the Coast of China An Iranian cargo ship was recently hit by a Hong Kong-registered cargo ship that caused an oil spill. For the past eight days the Iranian ship had been leaking oil into the South China Sea. Today, the Iranian ship has fell to the bottom of the ocean floor. In its wake, it has left behind a major environmental disaster. The ship tragically went down with 32 crew members. Watch this clip from National Geographic on YouTube for more information on this