Crosshead bearings in two-stroke marine diesel engines are operated under severe conditions of lubrication because the load on the bearing is unidirectional and the sliding speed is very low and oscillatory. In this paper, the motion of journal in a bearing is investigated using the lubrication theory. Several locus paths are presented to show the effects of oil groove size, bearing clearance and oil inlet pressure. It is found that the minimum film thickness is affected by the oil groove and bearing clearance, and the oil groove is an important design factor.