Canadian Port of Halifax has begun a master planning exercise to prepare for the arrival of “ultra-class” container ships of over 10,000 TEUs.

WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff Engineering Services, a port development consultancy firm, has been hired to lead the master planning exercise, according to the port.

The exercise is expected to prepare the Port of Halifax for the next five to ten years.

The master planning exercise also includes preparation for large-scale industrial mega-projects, as well as for arrival of larger cruise vessels.

Separately, the Port of Halifax released final cruise numbers for the 2016 season, which reveal the port welcomed a total of 136 cruise vessels carrying over 238 thousand passengers.

The busiest passenger day was October 11, 2016, when five cruise ship arrived at the port.

“It was an exciting season for cruise in Halifax,” Catherine McGrail, Interim Vice President, Operations and Director, Corporate Affairs, Halifax Port Authority, said.

The port said that this year saw an increase of just over 7 percent in overall passenger counts.

When compared to the 2015 cruise season when the port welcomed over 222 thousand passengers on 141 cruise ships, the number of passengers rose, while the number of cruise vessels slightly decreased.

Highlights of the 2016 cruise season in Halifax include inaugural visits from some of the industry’s largest cruise vessels such as the Norwegian Breakaway on June 29, 2016, and the Royal Caribbean International Anthem of the Seas on September 1, 2016, the return of Disney Magic, and four calls from the Cunard Line flagship Queen Mary 2.

The final vessel of the 2016 Halifax cruise season, the Royal Caribbean International Serenade of the Seas, arrived on October 28, 2016.

The cruise season in Halifax typically runs from mid-April to the end of October.