How seven crew members lost at sea stranded on a life-raft managed to survive

A group of fishermen stranded at sea have explained exactly how they were able to survive for nearly three days.

The seven crew members of the Elite Navigator fishing boat found themselves in peril after they had to abandon their boat when it caught ablaze last week.

The men were then forced to spend the next few days stranded onboard a life-raft in the North Atlantic Ocean.

After several days, they were able to catch the attention of a Canadian rescue helicopter.

Watch the footage from the moment they returned home below:

Following their return to their hometown in Newfoundland, Canada, the boat's captain Eugene Carter recounted their ordeal in an interview with CBC News, explaining that staying positive was crucial to the crew's survival.

"Within five minutes, we had seven men aboard a life-raft and there was fire around us everywhere," he recalled.

After escaping death by the fiery inferno the men then found themselves floating away from land with minimal resources.

The situation was also made force by poor weather conditions along the coastline, with fog hiding their location from rescuers.

In these circumstances it's understandable why most people would lose hope of ever being rescued, however Carter went on to explain how the group kept each other's spirits alive in the dire conditions.

"We were actually sitting around joking with each other, using the microphone, interviewing each other with the flashlight trying to keep our hopes and everything up," he added.

Rescue crews bringing the men ashore. (Facebook/Ryan Hart)

By Friday (19 July) night the men were able to capture the helicopter's attention with their last flare, allowing a rescue mission to take place.

By the next day, the seven men were welcomed home by cheering crowds in the New-Wes-Valley locality.

Carter explained that the toughest thing for the crew was imagining how their loved ones back home could be feeling, especially as the hours turned into days.

"The hardest thing about it was knowing we were alive and everyone here thinking the opposite. That was the hardest thing to cope with out there," he said.

The sentiment was echoed by Llewellyn Howell, brother to one of the crew members, who explained that locals in fishing villages are 'raised to expect the worst'.

The group received a hero's welcome in the village. (Facebook/Vince Gibbons)

Despite the terrifying ordeal the group aren't deterred from getting back to their jobs, with four of the crew members revealing in a later interview with CBC that they all expect to be back fishing in the next few days.

"I don't want the fish to get away, right?" Carter joked, while his fellow crew member David Tiller said he'd be back fishing as food prices were expensive.

"We gotta get out and get some fish," he added.