LONDON: Oil tanker operators are reaping record profits after nearly doubling the hire cost of vessels going through the Strait of Hormuz and wider Gulf region this week on rising demand as traffic through the waterway slowly picks up, according to shipping data and sources. Rates for hiring a tanker outside the Strait of Hormuz have jumped to $190,500 a day from $106,500 a week ago, according to ship brokers and industry sources, with those hired outside the Gulf region also surging. Average daily earnings for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) have jumped to a record of nearly $470,000 a day for cargoes inside the Gulf that need to go through Hormuz, rising by over $50,000 from a week ago, according to estimates from the ship brokers and industry sources.