ABSTRACT: Maritime governance in European seas is characterised by increasing regulatory complexity and institutional fragmentation. While previous research has highlighted the challenges of coordination, the impact of fragmentation on the inspection, surveillance and enforcement systems through which maritime governance is implemented, has received less attention. This article examines how institutional fragmentation affects maritime governance capacity through the organisation of inspection and surveillance systems in Estonia. Using a qualitative case study of Estonia, it combines qualitative document analysis with structured institutional mapping. The analysis applies a coding framework based on coverage, overlap, gap, and update lag. The analysis shows that Estonia's maritime governance system is characterised by fragmented institutional responsibilities, overlapping inspection functions and an update lag in which new regulatory requirements are not systematically reflected in institutional mandates. Although most regulatory obligations are formally assigned, fragmented responsibilities lead to overlaps, coordination gaps, and inconsistencies in inspection and surveillance systems. The article contributes to maritime governance research by demonstrating how institutional fragmentation affects operational governance capacity, and by identifying the lack of systematic updating of mandates as a structural source of governance fragmentation. The findings suggest that improving maritime governance requires formal mechanisms for coordinating institutional responsibilities and systematically updating mandates in response to evolving regulatory requirements.

KEYWORDS: Risk Management, Maritime Safety, Safety and Security in Sea Transportation, Port State Control (PSC), Maritime Policy, Environmental Protection, Maritime Surveillance, Maritime Governance

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