American film star Tom Cruise briefly visited the west coast of Finland on Wednesday morning to check out progress on a luxury yacht under construction in Ostrobothnia.
His arrival appeared to confirm rumours that the megastar had purchased a yacht from a local luxury boat builder.
Cruise arrived by private jet to the local airport in Kronoby in the morning, with the regional paper Österbottens Tidning managing to capture a few photographs of the unusual visit.
The Mission Impossible actor was seen at around 10:40am taking a helicopter back to the airport after visiting yacht building company Nautor Swan in nearby Jakobstad.
Founded by Pekka Koskenkylä in 1966 — and Italian majority-owned since 1998 — Nautor Swan is known for its luxury sailing vessels, with its largest yachts selling for tens of millions of euros.
According to Yle's sources, Cruise ordered a 108-foot yacht from the company in February.
As the actor was seen walking towards his jet, Svenska Yle's reporter Mårten Wallendahl asked what he thought about the boat.
"Beautiful!" Cruise replied.
Another local Svenska Yle reporter, Marcus Lillkvist, made his way to Nautor Swan before 8am. He said that it was clear that something big was about to happen.
"There was some kind of staging [set up] and I saw the hull and deck of a relatively large boat," Lillkvist said.
As news of the Hollywood actor's visit spread, other people began gathering outside the high-end boatyard facility.
Apart from reporters and photographers, a number of youths also arrived to catch a glimpse of the star, including Emil Hassel and Elias Härmälä, who attend the Optima vocational school in Jakobstad.
"We're waiting for Tom Cruise. We want to see him," Hassel explained.
"He's a cool actor," Härmälä added.
However, the lads admitted they actually should be in school.
"This is much more fun. The teacher doesn't know we're here," Hassel said.
"We came here during a break, but classes started again," Härmälä noted.
Nautor Swan refused to comment about Cruise's visit, citing customer privacy.
29 May: Corrected name of boatbuilding firm.
