Trade unions and labor rights organizations have criticized Maersk's labor practices in different parts of the world.
In El Salvador, Maersk has been accused of maintaining abusive conditions for port drivers. Charges include excessively long shifts, minimal wages and the repression of freedom of association by running union-busting campaigns, including firing and blacklisting at least 100 drivers in 2001.
Globalization Monitor, a labor rights group based in Hong Kong, has reported poor labor conditions in Maersk facilities in Dongguan and Qingdao, China. In January and May 2008, two riots reportedly broke out amongst workers at the Maersk plant in Dongguan in protest of poor working conditions and employment terms. In April 2011, Globalization Monitor stated, "Maersk's plants in China are still far from satisfactory as long as labor and human rights are concerned."
In response to a complaint from whistleblower Jerry H. Brown II, the US Government filed suit against Maersk for overcharging for shipments to US forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a settlement announced on 3 January 2012, the company agreed to pay $31.9 million in fines and interest but made no admission of wrongdoing. Brown was entitled to $3.6 million of the settlement.
In August 2010, the US government fined Maersk $3.1 million for violating its embargo on Sudan. "Maersk had a waiver from the US government to deliver US Food Aid into Sudan, so the US-flagged ship was in Port Sudan to deliver humanitarian aid," a U.S. government spokesman said, but "the booking systems did not identify cargo that was coming on and off the ship, and that could be of violation of the embargo". The US government imposed a trade embargo on Sudan in 1997 due to human rights violations linked to the civil war between the north and south of the African country and also because of the regime's alleged support of international terrorist groups.
In July 2010, Maersk had ties to an Iranian company that was blacklisted by the EU, Tidewater Middle East Co. The firm suspended operations at several Iranian ports owned by Tidewater Middle East Co after being pressured by the United States government. Maersk operates in other Bangladeshi ports and also diverted shipments to Dubai, partnering with other Bangladeshi companies that are not bound by U.S. sanctions.
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On 28 April 2015, the Marshall Islands-flagged container ship Maersk Tigris, which was not owned by Maersk, was travelling westbound through the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval patrol boats contacted the ship and directed it to proceed into Iranian territorial waters, according to a spokesman for the US Defense Department. When the ship's master declined, one of the Iranian craft fired shots across the bridge of Maersk Tigris. The master complied and proceeded into Iranian waters near Larak Island. The US Navy sent aircraft and a destroyer, USS Farragut, to monitor the situation.
Maersk stated they have agreed to pay an Iranian company $163,000 over a dispute about ten container boxes transported to Dubai in 2005. The court ruling allegedly ordered a fine of $3.6 million.
Regulation violations and contract fraud
In October 2010, Maersk pleaded guilty to 8 counts of failing to provide adequate hours of rest and 1 count of failing to improve the situation.
In February 2014, Maersk paid 8.7 million to settle allegations that they had forged documents on a contract to ship cargo to Afghanistan. The government says they uncovered 277 instances "in which claims verifying receipt of shipments in Afghanistan contained forged signatures." The settlement included no admission of guilt.
Sexual harassment suspensions and lawsuits
In May 2021, a Maersk officer's license was suspended after he was accused of sexual assault, including abusive, unwanted, and inappropriate touching in violation of Maersk's anti-harassment policy. On 12 October 2021, Maersk suspended five employees for their involvement in the rape of a 19-year-old girl.
In June 2022, Hope Hicks, formerly known as "Midshipman X" filed a lawsuit against Maersk, alleging that the company failed to protect her from rampant sexual abuse. In the same month, a second US Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) student under the alias "Midshipman Y" filed a suit against Maersk, also alleging that the company did not protect her from sexual abuse and violence.
Pollution from fuels
In 2009, it was estimated that the Maersk fleet's use of bunker fuel released sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, into the atmosphere corresponding to the emissions from 9 billion cars, with resultant serious health, environmental, and climate change impacts related.
Health problems linked to nitrogen oxides are linked back to a study in 2023 that found nitrogen oxides to be a major contributor to the bone deterioration in postmenopausal women. The study included a cohort of 161,808 postmenopausal women, with approximately one in two of involved women experiencing a bone fracture or damage to the lumbar spine as a result of exposure to the emissions.
For example, lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) decreased 0.026 g/cm2/year per a 10% increase in 3-year mean NO2 concentration, or the amount to 1.22% annual reductions, nearly double the annual effects of age on any of the anatomical sites evaluated.
Ivan Seistrup, group vice-president in A.P. Møller Mærsk, stated in 2009: "Among other things, we have entered into close cooperation with Boeing on the development of biofuel for the shipping industry, which will constitute a technological quantum leap. One solution could be to sail on clean biofuel in coastal areas, and then use bunker fuel in the open sea, where it does no harm."
The two most common types of biofuel are bioethanol and biodiesel. However, scientists and research of Norwegian Vestlandsforskning have found that biodiesel can increase the risk of cancer, caused by two molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), which is formed from fossil diesel, and fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), formed from biodiesel, and also show an ecotoxicological profile of both urban and rural air pollution.
Contravention of Maritime Organisation's SOLAS Convention and cloaking
In August 2024, the South African Government was alerted to two Maersk chartered ships (Campton and Candor) carrying approximately 816 total metric tonnes on board the two ships in 100 short containers of toxic steel furnace dust collected from pollution control filters. The containers were collected from Albania to be delivered to Thailand, passing around the south of Africa on route. The containers in question that potentially could contain mis-declared/hazardous waste cargo were picked up by Maersk (on behalf of MSC) in Trieste and were to be unloaded in Singapore.
The Basel Action Network (BAN) alerted the South African government to the fact that the Automatic Identification System (AIS) GPS beacon of the Maersk Campton was switched off on 31 July 2024 in contravention of the Maritime Organisation's SOLAS Convention and failed to make its scheduled docking in Cape Town. The practice, known as cloaking, can be used for illegitimate purposes, e.g. to hide the location of a ship in cases where illegal dumping of waste takes place. Cloaking however is also used for legitimate reasons such as security concerns, e.g. to protect vessels in transit near the Red Sea from being targeted by terrorist groups. The containers are currently being repatriated from Singapore to Albania by MSC on their ship Maria Saveria.
Business with Israel
Since 2024, Maersk has faced criticism and pressure from an international campaign by the Palestinian Youth Movement and its allies to end its role in transporting military cargo and goods to Israel, including to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. In November 2024, Maersk container ship Denver was denied entry to the Spanish port of Algeciras, due to allegations that the ship was carrying arms supplies to Israel.
On 24 February 2025, Maersk's headquarters in Copenhagen was the target of a mass protest action by activists over the transportation of U.S. government military equipment in relation to the Gaza war. Police cleared the protestors using batons and tear gas after they refused to leave after repeated requests, resulting in the arrest of 22 people. Greta Thunberg was among those arrested.
On 25 April 2025, dockworkers in Tangier, Morocco refused to load F-35 parts onto a Maersk ship bound for Israel, following days of protests that attracted about 1,500 people. In June, a statement on the Maersk website said, "Following a recent review of transports related to the West Bank, we further strengthened our screening procedures in relation to Israeli settlements, including aligning our screening process with the OHCHR database of enterprises involved in activities in the settlements." Maersk became the first logistics company to divest from the transportation of settlement goods, but continues to ship military cargo, including F-35 parts, to the Israeli Ministry of Defense as of 10 July 2025.
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