In March 2022, DP World faced heavy international backlash when its UK-based subsidiary, P&O Ferries, abruptly sacked 800 loyal seafarers via a pre-recorded video message with no prior notice. Experienced British crew members were immediately replaced with cheaper, international agency workers, with some employees making less than half the UK minimum wage.

In regions like Australia, the company has faced intense pushback from the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA). The union has criticized the company for lagging behind industry wage benchmarks and aggressively pursuing automation, leading to massive, disruptive strikes.

Industrial actions and deadlocks between DP World and local unions have resulted in significant backlog crises. For example, strikes at Australian terminals left tens of thousands of shipping containers idle and caused weeks-long shipping delays, impacting national cost of living and supply chains.

In November 2023, DP World Australia suffered a major cyberattack that forced it to shut down container terminals in major cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Fremantle. This halted roughly 40% of the nation's incoming and outgoing maritime freight, raising widespread concerns about infrastructure vulnerabilities.

The company's top leadership has been under a cloud. Former long-time CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem resigned following a major leak of private emails connecting him to the Jeffrey Epstein files.

When attempting to acquire British port operator P&O in 2006 (which included several U.S. terminal operations), DP World faced fierce bipartisan pushback in the United States. Congress and the public raised significant national security and political objections, ultimately forcing the company to divest its American assets.

In countries like Namibia and Tanzania, the company's aggressive port takeover and management strategies have faced local resistance due to alleged circumvention of procurement processes and fears of foreign monopolization.

On consumer-facing platforms like Trustpilot, DP World often struggles with negative reviews. Many individual consumers and businesses cite poor delivery services, missing packages, and a lack of communication for lost high-value items.

DP World Australia reported zero corporate income tax payable across nearly a decade (recording taxes payable only in 2024), despite generating more than A$6.9 billion in revenue. Critics, including the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR), allege this is achieved using complex corporate structures. Practices such as routing profits through Dutch shell companies.

DP World is now attempting to embark on an ambitious AI automation programme that could threaten up to a thousand jobs or over 60% of the wharfie and maintenance workforce. These are well-paid, unionised roles that underpin household incomes, local communities, support for local businesses, and public revenue at federal and state levels.

Leasing Lyttelton Port to them would place it in control of a company that intimidates workers by docking wages, sackings, cancelling leave and bonuses, and attacking democratic rights and can easily afford to pay any fines inflicted upon them.

Port development projects face environmental pushback. For instance, the deepwater port at Posorja in Ecuador faced heavy legal threats from campaigners who alleged that dredging access channels would disturb protected bottlenose dolphin habitats and that the environmental permit process was rushed.

Critics—such as the World Benchmarking Alliance—note that the company falls short on publicly disclosing detailed, group-wide targets for nature restoration, biodiversity protection, and eliminating ecosystem conversion in its supply chains.

DP World has come under pressure regarding its vessels' waste management, handling of hazardous materials, and Ballast Water Management to prevent the spread of invasive alien species.

Organizations assessing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) performance have pointed out that DP World lags in directly linking executive pay to nature and biodiversity targets.