One of the five survivors Nick Sales, 29, said the eight men, all members of the same extended family, collected rainwater on their 22 foot (seven metre) runabout during their long ordeal.

"When we ran out of food we began to collect driftwood and coconuts that we found floating in the ocean," he said from his hospital bed in the Marshall Islands capital Majuro.

"We would dry the wood in the sun and eat it. If we had coconuts, we would break them open, drink the juice and eat the meat inside.

"Then we would dry the coconut husk and eat that too," he said, adding they also occasionally were able to catch sea crabs.

Throughout the ordeal the devout Catholics prayed constantly to find comfort and maintain their sanity.

A US-based fishing vessel found seven badly malnourished survivors on the dinghy drifting near Nauru, about 300 miles (480 kilometres) from PNG in the central Pacific on Sunday.

Clement Singazoa and Samuel Savor -- weakened by starvation and exposure to the elements -- died before the "Oceanic Encounter" could get to the Marshall Islands capital Majuro late Tuesday.

The eighth person on the boat, 15-year-old Michael Kolvir, was lost at sea on Friday, just two days before the rescue.

"We lost the youngest when he jumped into the water to recover his shirt," Sales said.

"It was windy and the current was strong and it wasn't long before he was too far to swim back to the boat, he said, adding the men on the boat were too weak to help.

Four of the emaciated survivors were carried off the fishing vessel "Ocean Encounter" on stretchers when it arrived in Majuro.

The tragedy began on September 14, when the eight left their island of Lihir in Papua New Guinea for neighbouring Tabar Island -- normally a three-to-four-hour boat ride -- to pick up pigs for a funeral feast.

They had enough fuel for the return trip but got lost in fog on their way back to Lihir and could not make landfall.

After the first night of drifting, Sales said they dumped the three pigs overboard.

The group had no safety gear on board the 22-foot boat or fishing gear.

"We didn't know how to do anything," said Sales.

During the long days drifting under the sun, Sales said they would hang off the side of the boat to cool off then jump back on board and try to sleep.

Although glad to be alive, Sales and Gerard Bugngim, 19, Metatus Tikell, 17, Alfred Sniel, 19, and Gerard Nakot, 17, were grieving in hospital over the loss of their three relatives.

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