Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) and Royal Volker Wessels Stevin N.V. (VolkerWessels) have combined their forces in the field of offshore cable installation by establishing a 50/50 joint venture. Boskalis and VolkerWessels each hold a 50% stake in the joint venture Visser & Smit Marine Contracting Holding B.V. (VSMC) through Boskalis Offshore Subsea Contracting B.V. and VWS Civil and Offshore Constructions B.V., respectively. VSMC will have two cable-laying vessels at its disposal, the Stemat Spirit and Ndurance, which is expected to be delivered at the end of this year.