The maritime industry includes all stationary and floating infrastructure needed for maritime transport and trade. Therefore, it is directly related to the marine environment. However, it is necessary to follow the regulations issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to reduce the damage to the marine environment and reduce the maintenance caused by the marine environment. One of the techniques used for this purpose is Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). Raman and PL spectroscopy are important analytical tools in materials science that provide information on the vibrational and electronic properties of molecules and crystals. This dissertation presents the results of a novel approach to Raman and PL spectroscopy that takes advantage of variable spectral resolution by using zoom optics in a monochromator in front of the detector. The results show that the spectral intervals of interest can be acquired at different zoom factors, significantly reducing the acquisition time and changing the spectral resolution for different zoom factors. The smallest spectral intervals acquired at the maximum zoom factor yield higher spectral resolution suitable for the Raman spectroscopy. In contrast, larger spectral intervals acquired with the minimum zoom factor yield the lowest spectral resolution suitable for the PL spectroscopy. The proof-of-concept was demonstrated using a zoom lens with a zoom factor of 6. Then prototype spectrometer was demonstrated using a zoom lens with a zoom factor of 18. Special electronics were developed to allow automated Raman and PL spectra acquisition. The graphical user interface (GUI) was developed for spectra acquisition. The resulted spectra obtained were compared to those obtained with a high-quality commercial spectrometer. The comparison was performed on several different materials for Raman and PL and the statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the spectra obtained. The results show that such spectrometer could be an efficient and fast tool for the search of Raman and PL bands of unknown materials and the subsequent spectral acquisition of the spectral interval of interest with a suitable spectral resolution. Therefore, it can be used to develop new materials used in the marine industry to reduce damage caused by the harsh marine environment.