Thanks Denis and Libertyshiplad. An interesting and unusual story. The figurehead is very unexpected feature of a cargo ship, I don’t know the names of the Company’s other ships other than the TERO of 1949, which did not have a figurehead.

Got it --This Owl Watches Ahead - TOWA. Thanks Denis for the explanation.

Another interesting feature of this ship is the funnel - it's top is made of several curved deflectors around the central exhaust pipe, better visible on https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/1706737

There's an interesting story about it, found in http://www.varenisfijner.nl/PDF/RIL-Post/RIL Post 13-11.pdf

" 'THIS OWL WATCHES AHEAD'
STRAAT TOWA
The figurehead of the owl on the bows of RIL's new ship, m.v. 'Towa' (to be renamed Straat Towa), may be something of a mystery to many members of the Company, as this 'Bird of Wisdom' is not a traditional maritime symbol. The explanation is that the name 'Towa' was chosen by the previous owners, Messrs. N.V. Maatschappij Vrachtvaart, to preserve the memory of the first 'Towa' which was torpedoed in the second World War. The Company has always chosen the names of their ships in accordance with a set pattern. All the names commence with the letter T, followed by a vowel-consonant-vowel sequence. As a rule the names were pleasant sounding but had no special significance. The advantage of the system was that the names were close to each other in alphabetic lists of information to shipping, Lloyds Register etc. and they were immediately associated with their Company. After the name 'Towa' had been chosen , the wife of one of the Company Directors hit on the motto 'This Owl Watches Ahead' and the famous Dutch sculptor, Hildo Krop, was then commissioned to design a figurehead of an owl with the inscription beneath it. The result is the figurehead, pictured above, sculptured in solid bronze."

The crest on the bow is an owl ,under which it reads "THIS OWL WATCHES AHEAD".See Chris Howells photo of the Straat Towa added in 2012,on full magnification over half of this can be read.
Whyever was that chosen?