In August 2008, the government of Venezuela attempted to arrest and seize three vessels that were once owned and operated by its ICSID adversary, Cemex – aggravating an already bitter dispute, according to the Mexican cement company. The tribunal hearing the case refused to grant interim relief, saying that it was neither “urgent” nor “necessary” in the circumstances. Mathew Weiniger and Promod Nair of Herbert Smith report on a case that underlines the high threshold for provisional measures under the ICSID Convention